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Gc  M.  L 

974.702 

W532r 

1758049 


mSSfJi^^^S   ""^TORICAL 
aENEALOCiV  CQLLECTIOfei 


ALLEN  COUNTY  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 


3  1833  01178  2791 


BESSBOEO  : 


A   HISTORY 


WESTPORT,  ESSEX  CO.,   N.  Y. 


CAKOLIIsTE  HALSTEAD  ROYCE. 


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3vi"rata  on   :Map. 

The  eugravc-r  has  omitted  to  indicate  '-the  Narrows''  in 
the  lake,  betweerx  Basin  Harbor  aud  the  opposite  shore. 

The  liijht-houses  at  Crown  Point  and  Split  Rock  are 
omitted,  aud  also  the  "Hoisiugton  cemetery,  "  ou  the  road 
from  Westport  to  Meigsville,  where  the  road  (.-rosses  the 
brook. 

The  camp  at  Nichols  Pond  is  on  the  island  in  the  pond, 
and  not  at  the  southern  end  of  the  pond. 

The  little  island  just  south  of  Arnold's  Landing  iscailed 
on  the  latest  Government  survey  "Ivock  Tslaiul."  but  tlie 
more  common  name  is  Chtra's  Island. 


{'..i.ijri'jht,  J '.'02.     /;.■. 


\yill  no  one  t^^ll  me  wlmi  she  sing.s? 

Perhrt}>.s  t!'.-.-  plniutive  numbers  flow 
For  olfl.  unhappv,  far-ofl'  things, 

Aud  battles  loii<^'  ago. 
Or  is  it  some  more  hiimVih:'  lay. 
Ftimiliar  matter  of  tc-dav  V 
Some  DatvHAl  sorrow,  loss  or  \):\ii'.. 
That  has  hetii.  and  may  V>e  a^L^ain  ? 

—  ff'Mr'/>'//-'"-///'.s'  '■lit'oper 


To 


X„unr   ,rUI  rr.r    rn.-r  fnr    nuj    honk    „s    >//.    ,rnn],l    hnr, 

If,nl  shr  Jirr.l,  sir  ,n,n]<l  han}nJj>n/  n,r  {n  nmh-  // 
/     fhr  thuH    if   is. 

Js  shr  Im.r  nil  fh.  jJro.nrr  nf  rnl  fi  rn  l,ul  fn,rr  rs.  hnf 
s'iil  >rns  i.h.<s.-l  ,r;f]i  nnlhin'l  sn  nnirh  us  ^-il],  n  h.n,<!/nl 
,--f],,-,ril.llnnn,lsnrhhtrhirl:.,,-nn-s  nn  nnr  rnrhii  Jnlurs, 
>'...  f/u.n,jh  sin  l.-„r,r  /Jn-Usf  //.,//  >rns  in  lilrrnlnrr,  ]n-r  ./-- 
/■■//,/  ;,/  "  l...nh  .,f  ntinr  n-nnh]  hnrr  }>,r„  hr.Jnnil  ,U'"sn,r. 
r/'/o',,/A  /n,nn,  1  nn  ,st  r  ns.f  ,j  run  nrrtrJ  ,rH  h  f  In'  soil  nf 
l.hirh    I  irritr.   n,nl  fn    w,  <>n^   ,'ls,-    ran    I  </irt'   nf ;/   h'>'.l. 


"■  IV  jinfrn  r  )nirj!(ho7'>'i  ii:>  fyoiii.  tlvj  iioimr  of  our  .■'fy/.sv.'-.v 
ivhohovcr  i/Kik'^,<i  fhe  pant,  thp  diato'uf.or  thefiUure  preJo/rn- 
TioM  OVr  the  -preSP.'of,  nrhjn-nc.nr,  »/.<;  •,'•?/  f^>:^  'J.igir''^-ii  of  fJir.it- 
htxj  h^AyHj-i." 


Chronological   AccouDt. 

I—Discovery  aud  ludiuii  Oecupatiuu. 
11 — Frencli  and  Indian  War. 
Ill— Gilliland  and  Bessboro. 
lY  — Raymond  and  tlie  Revolution. 

Y—  Original  Pateut.s. 
Yl- Early  Settlement.     1785  to  1815. 
YlI-AYar  of  1812. 
Vin-lS15  to  Civil  \Yar. 
IX— Civil  AVar  to  1S75. 
X— 1875  to  190-2. 


At  tlie  Coiit.-iinial  ('olebral.ion  of  the  fornifitioTi  of 
the  county  of  Essex,  N.  Y.,  helJ  in  Juno  of  1S99  at  the 
Court  House  in  Elizabetlitowii,  preparation  was  made 
for  tlie  presentation  of  tlje  history  of  each  town  in  the 
county.  Tlie  clioice  of  the  anthtu's  of  these  histories 
was  left  with  the  supervisors  of  the  several  towns.  In 
the  oa.se  of  Westport  the  wi-iter  was  requested  to  per- 
form tliis  task,  which  was  accordinj^ly  attem])ted,  with 
very  little  knowledge  of  its  requirements,  and  no  more 
than  a  general  interest  in  the  subject.  Tlnn-e  were  tw(j 
months  in  which  to  write  the  history.  As  for  mater- 
ial, tliere  w  as  tlie  History  of  Essex  County,  b^■  VViuslow 
C.  Watson,  admiralile  in  ev.."-\  way,  but  witli  iitth'  bear- 
ing directly  upon  the  story  of  Westport,  and  the  later 
history,  published  in  1S85  by  Smith,  with  several  pages 
of  rather  incoherent  information  u}).)u  the  subject. 
'L'l.ien  there  was  the  tine  Atlas  of  Essex  ('ouutv,  pub- 
lisheil  in  1876,  and  a.  friend  lent  me  the  New  York 
Gazetteer  of  18C.0.  .  1  went  to  look  at  IMiss  Alice  Eee's 
lirst  map  of  the  village,  ituule  in  LSOO,  and  copied  the 
letter  which  she  had  carefully  framed,  written  bv 
Judge  Chai'les  Hatch  in  1SJ2  iu  regard  to  the  earlv 
settlement  e.f  the  town.  Mrs.  Eraucis  L.  Lee  lent  me 
Palmer's  History  of  Lake  Chaijq)laiu,  and  one  day  1 
went  into  th'^  Town  Clerk's  otiice  and  took  a  hastv 
hx.'k  at  the  old  book  of  the  town  records,  copying  the 
first  entry.  \Vith  this  equipment  1  went  to  work,  and 
wdiat  I  put  together  was  read  at  the  Centennial. 


It  goes  witliout  saying  that  even  tliis  quautitv  of  ma- 
terial could  not  have  been  well  digested  in  two  mouth's 
time  by  a  writer  entirely  new  to  the  ^^■ork,  and  I  found 
myself  jjunnted  In  continual  discoveries  of  the  incom- 
pleteness, and,  in  some  particulars,  the  actual  untruth 
of  my  so-called  "history."  Tliis  was  enough  to  com- 
]ilete  the  fascination  of  the  subject,  and  since  then  it 
has  formed  u^.y  chief  mental  occupation  to  tind/iut 
wjiat  was  leally  true  about  my  native  town.  I  grew  to 
rts|)cct  my  sul>ject  more  and  more,  and  the  mere  at- 
traction of  my  own  interest  seemed  to  throw  in  ray  way 
material  hitherto  undreamed  of.  Cousins  in  Chicago 
sent  ine  the  |>riceless  Ma[<  of  Skene's  Patent  Miss 
Alice  ]_.ee's  tact  and  energy-  succeeded  in  recovering 
from  dt'sc-rts  of  hopeless  unappreciation  the  map  of  the 
northern  part  of  the  \  illage,  made  by  Diadorus  Holcomb 
Un-  "old  Squire  Hatch,"  a  njap  of  the  Iron  Ore  Tract, 
and  iUirr's  ma])  of  the  County  for  LS29.  Mr.  Henry 
Haruion  Xc'ble,  of  Essex,  chief  clerk  in  the  State  tlis- 
t<iri;ins'  othce,  l)eeoming  interested  in  my  work,  dis- 
covered for  me  in  the  othce  of  the  State  Engineer  and 
Suiveyor  the  map  aiiTT  field  notes  of  Bessboro,  of  which 
he  secured  certified  cojiies,as  well  as  an  affidavit  in 
regard  to  Btssboro  which  forms  our  princi[)al  evidence 
in  regar<l  to  th.-  setlleiueut  u[>'.)U  it.  Another  map  hy 
j'hitt  Kogers  of  the  nortlu.u-n  patents  of  the  township 
I  liad  the  i^owd  fortune  to  find  in  the  State  Engineer's 
otlice,  anil  received  a  cojjv  of  it  by  the  kindness  of  Mr. 
\Vn).  Fierson  Judson,  Deputy  State  Engineer.  Cous- 
in>  at  ]>a7,in  Hai  lior  lent   nu'   faaiilv   iianeis   mit   of  an 


old  trunk  in  tlie  attic.  I  myself  copied  almost  the  wliolo 
of  the  old  town  book,  from  1815  to  1875.  Mrs.  J.  L. 
Roberts  lent  me  an  invaluable  scrap-book  containing  :\ 
miscellany  of  information  about  the  Cliamplain  valley, 
and  also,  a  prixe  which  was  greeted  with  delight,  two 
copies  of  the  AYestport  newspaper  published  in  1842  an. I 
1843.  Hon. Richard  L.  "Hand  afterward  presented  Miss 
Leo  with  two  more  copi  ^s,  of  18-11  and  1841.  Mr.  Henry 
Richards  lent  me  four  volumes  of  the  Documentary 
History  of  New  York.  When  I  began  to  study  the 
period  of  Burgoyue,  Mr.  Henry  Harmon  Noble  seiit 
me  from  the  State  Library  the  following  books  :  Bur- 
goyne's  Orderly  Book  ;  Stone's  Campaign  of  Burgoyju-; 
Memoirs  of  Gen.  Riedesul;  Journal  of  Madame  Riedesel: 
Pausch's  Journal ;  and  Watson's  Pioneers  of  the  Cham- 
plain  Yalley.  From  his  ovvu  library  he  seut  me  Digby"s 
Journal  ;  Hadden's  Journal  ;  Journals  of  Major  Rul)- 
ert  Rogers;  Journal  of  Charles  Cnrroll,  and  after- 
wards Reminiscences  of  Bishoj)  Wadhams,  by  the  Rev. 
Clarence  A.  Walworth.  For  tlie  War  of  1812  I  con- 
sulted Tiios.  Wentworth  Higginsou's  History  of  th..' 
United  States  ;  New  York,  by  Ellis  H.  Roberts;  His- 
tory of  the  United  States,  by  E.  Benjamin  Andrews, 
and  Military  Pajiers  of  Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  publishe.l 
by  the  State.  Mr.  Noble  also  copied  for  me  some  Mili- 
tary orders  and  records  still  in  mauuscrijit  in  the  State 
archives,  and  from  the  papers  of  his  grandfather  Gen. 
Ransom  Noble.  I  also  received  information  from  the 
War  Department  at  Washington. 

In  addition  to^these  books,  and  iierhaps  othr-rs  which 


1  have  forgotten,  I  have  had  mimberless  interviews 
with  numberless  people.  Some  have  beeu  \va3-laid 
upon  the  street  with  abrupt  and  apparently  irrele- 
vant inquiries,  and  some  have  given  me  hours  of 
delightful  reminiscence.  For  a  long  time  it  seemed 
to  me  that  whatever  question  I  asked  of  anj-  one,  I  was 
told  to  go  and  ask  Henry  Holeomb,  which  I  finally  did, 
and  v.'as  rewanled  l\v  receiving  a  vast  deal  of  informa- 
tion. ■  Mrs,  William  liichards  has  been  of  great  help  to 
me  ;  so  has  Mrs.  Karriet  Sheldon  and  Mr.  James  Allen. 
If  1  should  recount  the  names  of  all  the  peojjle  who 
have  answered  questions,  for  me  with  patience  and  in- 
telligence I  should  give  something  like  a  list  of  my 
acqnaintauceri  in  AVestport.  I  have  also  received  valu- 
able letters  from  former  residents,  of  which  the  most 
detailed  and  helpful  is  one  from  Mrs.  A'ictor  Spencer, 
.Saginaw,  Mich.  Miss  Lee  gave  me  a  package  of  notes 
and  printed  slips  from  Mr.  David  Tui'ner,  of  Washing- 
ton, who  published  the  West])ort  uewspa[)er  in  tin' 
forties. 

Books  from  which  many  items  of  information  have 
been  obtained  are  the  life  of  Catherine  Schuyler,  by 
Mary  Gay  Hnrnplireys  ;  Carrington's  Campaigns  of  the 
ilevolution  ;  Burgoynes  Invasion,  by  Samuel  Adam-; 
Drake  ;  History  of  the  Empire  State  by  Lossing.  Al- 
together indispensable  has  been  the  article  in  Scributu-'s 
3Iagazine  fur  February,  1898,  by  Alfred  T.  Mahan,  upon 
the  Battle  of  Ijake  Chann)lait),  and  1  shall  often  refer 
to  Farknuin's  volumes  u[>ou  the  history  of  this  region. 

Of  more  value  to  me  than  manv  books  have  Ween  the 


exquisite  maps  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey. 
The  bulletins  of  the  ]Sew  York  State  Museum  have 
been  also  helpful.     ■ 

It  is  common  in  town  histories  to  give  long  tables  of 
genealogy,  which  are  always  of  interest.  This  I  have 
l)eeu  entirely  unable  to  do  for  this  book.  In  a  few  in- 
stances people  have  very  kindly  supplied  rne  with  in- 
formation in  regard  to  their  lines  of  descent,  always  in 
response  to  my^iuquirie.s,  and  these  I  have  been  glad 
to  print,  but  to  make  an  exhaustive  showing  of  the 
suliject  would  require  years  of  work.  >Jo  one  can 
really  obtain  a  perfect  understanding  of  the  history  o:' 
any  town  without  some  idea  of  the  race  and  descent  of 
the  people  who  live  in  it.aud'especially  of  those  families 
which  have  remained  in  it  from  generation  to  genera- 
lion.  Therefore  I  will  give  here  a  short  account  of  my 
own  descent,  as  one,  I  think,  entirely  representative  of 
the  town.  I  might  have  chosen  tl)e  genealogy  of  fami- 
lies more  distinguished,  in  remote  and  recent  times,  but 
none  more  typical,  and.  naturally,  ncme  upon  which 
1  could  speak  with  so' much  confidence. 

I  can  trace  three  lines  of  descent  fr«)m  ''first  emi- 
grants.'"—  tlie  first  who  came  to  this  continent  from  the 
old  world. 

I  will  begin  witii  iny  fatlier's  family,  the  Bartons. 
The  first  whom  we  know  was  Samuel  Barton,  who 
was  a  witness  at  one  of  the  witchcraft  trials  in 
Siilt-m,  Massachus-itts,  in  1G91.  His  testimony 
was  in  favor  of  the  woman  accused  as  a  witch 
which  we  hop.'  was  n  :it  th-'  rt^snlt  of  a  spirit  of  contra- 


viuess,  but  of  an  unshakable  sense  of  justice.  His  wife 
was  Hannah  Bridges,  and  ho  had  a  large  family,  his 
youngest  sou  becoming  the  ancestor  of  i\liss  Clara  Bar- 
ton of  the  lied  Cross.  Another  son,  Joshua,  was  des- 
tined to  have  no  such  distinguished  descendants.  He 
lived  in  the  towns  of  Leicester  and  Si)cnccr,  in  Massa- 
chusetts, and  his  wife's  name  was  Anna.  They  were 
blessed  with  .^even  children,  the  fourth  of  whom  was 
Timotliy,  born  in  1732,  (and  therefore  of  the  same  age 
as  George  Washingt<in,)  at  Leicester.  He  fought  in 
the  Ivevolution,  taking  up  arras  at  the  "alarm  of  Ben- 
nington," when  the  approach  of  Burgoyne  threatened 
every  home  in  New  England.  In  1753  he  married 
Hopsibah  Stow,  and  they  had  also  seven  children,  the 
third  of  whom  v.-as  named  Timothy  Stow,  and  who  en- 
listed at  Charlton,  Mass.,  iu  1775.  He  married  Phebe 
Stone,  and  tliey  i)ad  no  less  than  nine  children.  After 
the  Ivevolution  they  were  stirred  by  that  ])ioneer  spirit 
which  moved  so  many  at  that  time  to  emigrate  west- 
ward to  newer  lauds,  and  they  moved  to  Bolton,  on  Lake 
George,  where  the  rest  of  their  lives  was  spent,  and 
where  they  now  lie  buried.  Theiroldest  son  was  Simon, 
and  he  it  was  who  first  canje  into  Essex  county,  settling 
on  a  farm  in  Moriah  in  1812,  and  living  there  the  rest 
of  his  life.  He  was  a  deacon  in  the  Baptist  church. 
His  wife  was  olive  Gary,  and  it  is  through  her  that 
black  eyt-'s  and  hair  came  into  the  family.  The  origi- 
nal Bartons  were  lilue-cyed.  Simon  Barton  had  a  large 
family,  Well-known  in  this  section.  Perha])s  the  best 
known  of  the  skus  who  rfniaincd  in  Essex    countv   wa^ 


Dr.  I>yui:i]n3aito)i.  of  \Vill>aior(..  Tlio  ol.lest  sou  w.is 
William,  who  settled  in  Crown  Point.  His  son,  .loLi, 
Nelson,  came  to  Westoort  as  a  yonn^u;  man,  and  lias 
spent  the  greater  {lart  of  his  life  here  as  a  ear)-iage  liia- 
ker.  Oar  line- of  Bartons  seem  to  haxchefni  mainly 
artisans,  always  fond  of  working  Nvith  tln-ir  hands. 
When  one  of  them  has  beeome  a  }djysit-ian,  we  often 
remai-k  that  he  is  likely  to  m;dce  a  specialty  of  surgery, 
showing  this  iid)orn  tpudency.  A  love  of  music  also 
runs  through  t\u-  family  but  we  fancy  th.at  it  is  shown 
more  in  the  delight  of  making  it  u}i<>u  an  instrunn^nt 
than  in  that  of  simply  hearing  it. 

The  Sawyers  shcAV  characteristics  (juite  dift'ereut  from 
these.  A  real  Sawyt-r,-  we  say,  can  n<dther  make  a 
hoot-jack  nor  play  the  tidille.  If  any  one  (jf  the  nann; 
has  thes.;^  talents,  it  comes  m  through  some  other  ances- 
tor. 'J'he  first  S.iwyer  of  whom  we  know  anything  pos- 
itively is  Thomas,  h.trti  in  Lincolnshire,  P^ig.,  in  IGlo. 
He  came  to  Massachusetts  in  1639  and  settled  in  Lan- 
caster, where  he  died  and  was  huriei!,  as  his  tonilistone 
still  stands  to  attest.  In  the  attack  ui)on  Lancaster  dur- 
ing King  Philip's  Wai-,  his  son  Ejdiraim  was  killed  by 
ludians,  and  from  that-^lay  until  the  Indian  was  dri^•en 
west  of  the  ]Mississip|.i,  thcrt^  was  always  a  Sawyer 
fighting  Indiaits.  John,  eighth  in  a  familv  of  nine 
children,  moved  to  Tiyme,  (Nmnecticut.  His  son  Ed- 
ward, boru  at  Lancaster  in  1()S7,  following  the  pioneer 
instincts  which  seem  to  mark  the  famil}',  was  one  of 
ten  men  w!io  first  settled  tiie  town  of  Hebron,  Coul..  in 
ITiU.      His  son,   born   at    Hebron    in    IT'Jl,    we  alw.ivs 


speak  of  ;is  '"I.-aac,  tlio  Tmliaii  tj^hter."'  He  was  twice 
inarrietl.  ami  our  Vine  comes  from  tbe  st'cond  wife,  an 
Irisbwomau  ami  a  MoFarland.  (Wheaever  red  hair, 
elo<jueuee  or  a  sense  of  liumor  develops  in  auv  of  our 
race,  it  is  at  once  ascribed  to  this  Irish  ancestress.)  He 
emigratf-d  w  ith  liis  faUiily  into  the  wilds  beyond  the 
Hudson  river,  and  settled  iu  thti  wilderness,  high  np  on 
tb.e  ^^'est  J^rancli  oi  tlit,'  Dehiware  I'ivor.  He  was  there 
at  the  time  of  the  Indian  massacres  of  Wyoming  and 
Cherry  Valley,  but  soon  remos'ed  his  family  to  the  fort 
at  Schoharie.  He  and  another  man  were  captured  by 
four  Indi;ins,  Ijut  kiUed  tlnee  i>f  the  Indians  and 
wounded  tljf  fcnirtli,  and  so  esi'ai)ed.  Stories  are  also 
tokl  of  liis  uite's  courage  in  driving  Indians  away  iVona 
the  house.  His  son  Isaac  was  left  an  orphan  at  an  ear- 
ly age,  and  it  was  his  lot  to  l>e  a  bound  boy  to  a  man 
wlio  went  into  the  howUng  wilderness  of  northern  Ver- 
mont and  settled  at  Mouktou.  Tiiis  Isaac  grew  up  in 
rouglmess  and  ignorance,  but  was  destined  to  be  re- 
deemed by  the  wife  lie  married.  She  was  Mary  Wil- 
loughby,  daughter  of  Joseph  Willoughby  ,a  soldier  of  the 
devolution  and  deacon  ot  a  little  Baptist  church  which 
had  sprung  uji  in  the  wilderness.  Isaac  became  con- 
verted, and  tlien,  throwing  himself  into  his  new  experi- 
ence with  all  the  tire  of  his  fighting  ancestors,  began  to 
preach.  He  knew  iiis  liible  almost  by  heart,  and  in 
those  days  no  congregation  asked  for  any  better  equip- 
ment. Wonderful  stories  are-told  of  the  power  of  his 
preaching,  and  perhaps  there  is  somi:-  proof  of  this  in 
the  fact  tli.ut  he  had  five  sons  who  als.i   Ijeeame  Baptist 


iiiiuist.M-s,  all  with  iiioro  eiluc;ition  tlian  he-.  Ho  li;i'l. 
I  think,  four  graiidsoiis  who  were  ;^^^(l  preachers,  l)ul 
most  of  tlieiii  took  to  the  medieal  profession  or  t<.  teueh- 
iu^.  He  jourueveel  over  all  northern  New  York  and 
Vennont  founding  ehurelies  and  preaching.  In  18'2s]ie 
came  to  the  V.aptist  cliureh  in  Westjioit,  and  reinaiiicd 
as  ]Kistor  six  Years.  It  was  while  he  was  here  that  hi-^ 
son,  Milfo  .Mcl'^arland,  iiiai-ried  niv  grandmother,  Caro- 
line   Halstead. 

For  niv  grandmother's  faniilv  I  must  go  hack  to  Hen- 
drick  Martcn.sen  Wiltse,  who  came  to  Now  Netherlands 
from  Copenhagen  in  ITioo.  There  he  married  Mai'garei 
^leijei's.  ainl  eaine  far  n[>theHudson  to  settle  at  Es.  ipn.-,, 
Theri^  he  was  oaj^tured  hy  Indians  at  the  Massa-re  of 
AViltwyek.  l)nt  escaped;  and  sp<  nt  the  rest  of  his  life 
within  the  bounds  of  civilization,  on  Long  Islan<l.  liis 
son  Mctrtin  mtirried  !M aria  "S'an  ^^'v(•k.  and  had  a  son 
?>IaitiMi  who  renio\ed  (o  Duchess  county  as  ori.-:  of  the 
earliest  setth-rs,  and  became  on<^  of  the  subst.'ititia] 
Dutch  farnxM's  along  the  Hmlson.  Flis  wife's  name 
was  Jannetje  Snychim.  and  his  youngestdaughter,  Eyda. 
laflerwa.i-d  Angliei/ed  to  Jda.)was  born  aftei-  her  father's 
death,  in  IT-tC.  In  Mi'A  she  married  IMatt  Rogers,  and 
in  ITN'.'  nn.ved  with  hite  to  l)usin  Ilaibor.  on  Lak< 
(  hanii>l.on.  J-')'<im  thi^  line  of  \\'dtses  comes  .-i  strai:; 
<'f  the  ai't-loviiig,  conteiii jflative,  moiie v-uiald ng  ])utch 
blond,  in  str<aig  contrast  to  ihe  hardy  contempt  of 
ln\nr\-  f<-nnd  in  tlie   Turijaii  Saw  vers. 

The  f.ither  of  IMatt  Kog(  rs  was  nanie-d  Ananias,  and 
he  lived  at    llunliegtnn,   L,.ng  I.Iand.       We  fondly  le-p- 


to    jH'ove    soiu.^    Jay  that  lie   tU-sc.-nd.-.l  {coia  Tliouiii.s 
llogers  of  the  ^Mayflower,  wlj.x^c  son  William  niovod  to 
J^DUg  Jslaiul  ami  there  had  a  nuiueious  iauiily--f;u- to(; 
imuieiou.s    for    the  eoiufort  of  thu  toiling  genealogist. 
'J'he  liogersos  were  closely  conneeted    with    the   Phitt.s, 
and  when  the  latter  nioved  fr«>ni  LongJsh.ihd  intoDuch- 
ess  county,  before   the   Jlevulntion,   Piatt  Jlogers  went 
also,  and  so  met  and  married  Eyda.  Wiltse.     He  served 
in  the  Continental  army  during  t)ie  llevolutiou,  and  was 
afterward  one  of  |)ie  "twelve  patriarclis"  of  JMattsburgli, 
who  founded  th:it  town  in  1780.      In   1789  he  moved  to 
Ihisin  Harbor,  <.n  the   Vermont  shore    of   Lake   Cham- 
pI.iiiK  opposite  We.-tpMrl.      He  had  eight  ehil(h-en,  and 
of  his  four  sons  not  inif,-  t-ver  married,  so   that  there   is 
to-day  no  descendant  of  hi-  bearing  the  name  of  Rogers. 
His  daughter  Phebe  niarrievl  John   Halstead.,    who  sold 
a  farm  in  Duchess  county  to  follow  the  fortunes  of  the 
faiiiily  in  this  legion.    (His  daughter  liha  ma  rried  James 
A\'inans,  and  her  deset-ndant^  still  liv.^at  Hisin  Harbor,  i 
TM.ftt  Rogers  ami  hi-  associates  in  a  huge    land   com- 
pany i-wned  S!;--ne"s    patent,    on    Northwest    Pay.    upon 
which  the  vill-ige  of    Wrsfport    -nuv    stands.      After   the 
•  hath  of  Pl.-itt  le.g,.rs.  in  17'.tS'.   ;,    portion   of   this   lan.l 
f>ll  t..  hi>  dau-ht.-r  I'heb,.,  ;uid  so  John  llal.-^tead  moved 
over  th'-  lake  into  tli.-  n.-w  Sfttl.-ment,  and  Ids  w;is    the 
tir.-^t  frame  hou.^.-  bnill  in  tin-  villag.',    in    bSOO.      It    was 
his  d.aughf.'i,Car«. line  I-:ii/a.  who  mai-ried  Miles  Mrpar- 
huid  Sawy,-r.      Tl'.eii  daughter.  Phi-i)e    Maria,    njarried 
JfJm    Nflson    Parton,   and    n..w    we    have    brought    all 
thi  -••  ani-.->.traI  lie.-  t^  thrii   m.'.  tiiiLT  ["'int  in  Westp<»i't. 


Mv  sirttei'aud  I  e-ui  cliiiiu  to  have  been  Ixn-n  liere  f.-r 
three  gHi)ei-;itious,  with  ancestors  in  tlie  C'hiimiilaiu 
valley  since  ITS"). 

Such  a  description  of  eacli  of  t!ie  old  families  in  the 
township  would  show,  I  have  concludt;d  from  my  own 
knowledge  of  them,  a  marked  similarity.  A  great  pre- 
y)Oiiderance  of  pure  English  blood,  coming  here  aft.-v 
<Teuerations  of  residence  in  New  England,  is  a  charac- 
teristic common  to  all.  The  dash  of  Irish  blood  is  not 
uncommon,  buf  the  Dutch  strain  is  less  often    met  with. 

As  for  the  Iloyces,  theirs  is  a  New  England  hunily 
too.  The  tirst  record  i.-^  at  Lyme,  Connecticut,  on  J;ong 
Island  Sound,  from'  which  place  they  moved  up  tlie 
Connecticut  river,  settling  a.t  AValpoU^,  N.  H.  From 
that  place  came  William  Toyce.  eaily  in  the  last  cen- 
tury, acioss  the  state  of  Vermont  to  L:dve  Champlain. 
and  toidv  the  ferry  fi-oui  Dasin  Harln.r  to  ll.ock  Marbor. 
At  that  time  tiiere  was  a  well-traveled  road  run.iiin.g  t'- 
the  north  acios.s  the  Split  Ilock  ridge,  from  the  hmd- 
ing  iit  liock  ILai-l'or  to  Essex.  i>y  tliis  loule  eanie 
many  of  the*  early  setflei-s  from  New  England  into 
Essex,  and  some  of  the  New  Hampshire  ]unees  owmd 
tracts  of  land  in  Ess.'x..  William  Royce  settled  ii['on 
this  road,  on  the  wt-stei  ii  slope  of  tlie  Split  Kock  nn-nnt- 
ains.  He  was  farniliariy  called  'T^ildad""  among  lii> 
neighbors,  and  the  old  road,  lotig  since  disus<nl.  is  still 
spoken  of  as  the  -'old  Bildad  road."  William  lloyc- 
had  sons  and  tl;uighters,  and  liis  descendants  now  form 
a  huge  and  clannish  familv  connertion  in  the  town-  of 
J'.ssex   and    W.->ti.ort,    inlei  man  i-d    with    the    Math-.r- 


ami  StatVonls  aii-l  Sarl'oril^  aiul  Walkers,  an,!  ..ilj^i  (,M 
namt'S. 

This  book  \V()aM  never  lia\<.'  \)Oj'.u  writUu  or  priiito'l 
exce])t  for  the  eiithu^iastiu  cucoiii'a^euieiii  <>f  Mrs. 
]-'r;incls  L.  J^t-e,  whost;  recjit  death  has  been  such  a 
loss  to  thr  eommnuity.  Hrrself  the  aiiihor  of  the  oul\ 
t)ther  Ijool;  fver  publishr-il  liy  a  Westporl  woman,  lu.u' 
interest  in  this  hi.'storv  ntj\;n'  failed,  and  my  pleasnie 
in  seeing-  it  in  piint  is  dimmed  by  the  thmight  that  it 
ean  now   brin.i^  tiO''j>|easiire  to  hei'. 

(.)ne  word  more.  I  have  v\ritien  this  histor\'  for  niv 
(.iv.ii  tov.  n>pe.  >j'h'  hist  (,t  all-  th.ose  who  will  care  most 
for  it,  and  who  will  \nt  most  eharilabh-  in  their  ju»V;- 
ments.  If  I  have  made  aii_\  mistakt-  in  it — and  1  do 
not  know  of  anything  .so  t  asy  to  do  as  making  mistakes 
(nnles.s  possibly  it  may  be  se.'ing  the  mistakes  (if  otln-r 
peoplei— [  hope  t'lat  it  win  \u'.  considered  a  duty,  and 
a  kindm  .^s  ty.  iut\  to  eali  n.y  attmiion  to  it.  If  T  have 
put  any  e>iu'"s  grandfatlni-  in  tlie  wrong  ])lare,  or  omit- 
Icil  anUldng  whatv'\er  that  som.:>  [»erson  would  like  to 
>fk'  printed  in  a  histor\  of  the  town,  1  hoijc  1  shall 
bt,>  told  of  it.  r.e  sure  rliat  1  shall  not  i)r  sur[.iisfd  nt 
any  such  eori-ction,  foi  th;'  p'>int  of  view  of  one  jierson, 
ami  that  p.•r^^on  by  ni^.  uu-aiis  accustonicd  to  be  in  tln^ 
ei'iitcr  of  public  cViMit^.  ra\, not  be  cxptctc»l  to  takt;  in 
cvi-rything.  it  ma}-  \':—  if  children  wy  f.)r  it.  as  (lad 
Hamilton  >aid-  tlmi  tlit-re  will  lie  another  tMlition  som.- 
dav,  with  additions  and.  corrections. 

And  f..r  the  lest-- let  mv  little  book  be-  read,  as  in- 
de^di  u  h;i-  [,..•, a;   wilttec.  in  the  -^iiirii  of   thi^  ouotati.-r. 


fi-oiu  a  Al;'-str'i'  of  Arts  oiatJ.Mi  at  a  Hai\aifl  C(->iiiuieiiee- 
jueiit.  ]iy  ri'>l>frt  jKiitlcft.— 

''We  ave  lookin;.^  abioa,!  ami  had:  after  a  literature. 
Let  us  c-oiiie  and  live,  aiul  knew  in  living  a  liigli  philo.so- 
])ljy  and  faitli;  s<.  sliall  wo  find  now,  here,  the  oletnents, 
juid  iu  our  own  i;o<>J  souls  the  tire.  Of  every  storiod 
bay  and  elitl"  wi.'  will  make  soinethinir  infinitely  i]ol>Ier 
than  Sala,ui>  or  [Marathon.  This  pale  Massaeliusetts 
sky,  thi^  saiidy  soil  and  raw  win<l,  all  shall  nurture  u>. 
I'niihr  nil  Ijn    in.rl.J  hvjurv  ns,  nnr  mm  ,/,/,    ,uh1  J<n„l  sjmjl 

CAliOLIXE  HAL8TEA1)  1U)Y(.E. 
West)>ort-on-Lake-Chain})lain,  January,  1902. 


God  giveth  u.s  KemtMnbrance  as  a  shield 
To  carry  into  wi»rfaro,  of  u  cloak- 
To  keep  us  warm  wlu'ti  we  walk  forth  uloue 
Tis  never  irood  uor  bk'ssed  to  foriret. 


]ili<TORy  OF  WKSTl'UUT 


oi:ni-:uai.  i  )i:s(']iii^'n<  )N. 

TTestport  .is  a  lavj^e,  tliirily  settled  to\vii<liip  in  tlie 
Adirondack  region  of  ii>nthern  New  Yrtrk.  It  is  onn 
of  tlie  eighteen  towns  of  the  most  mountainous  counry 
in  the  state, — that  of  Es<ex.  Essex  county  has  spw-n 
towns  v.liic-li  horder  on  Lake  Charni>hii)i,  and  of  thnse 
AVest{)ort  is  the  eentrai  (jnc.  Its  southern  boundai-y  is 
very  nearly  coincident  with  the  parallel  (^f  41  deg.  noitti 
latitud.'.  'Jdiis  parallel  crosses  Lakes  Huron  and  Mit-h- 
igan,  and.  ilio  state  of  Oregon,  touches  th.-  city  of  Avig- 
non, in  the  south  of  France,  and  crosses  tla-  (rulf  of 
(ienoa.  I'he  meridian  of  V\'ost]>ort  lies  but  ween  0  ~ 
and  43  -   east  of  Washiiiuton. 


1'      .  HISTORY  nr  wEsrroirr 

XAMi:. 

Tlie  iiauit'  of  Westport  ^\  as  givoii  to  the  to\\ii  in  1815, 
jii'ter  it  li;i(l  IvUinvii  at  least  tliirty  years  of  recorded 
liistorv.  ^Ncthiii^,^  is  aioi'e  unlikely  tbati  that  it  was 
named,  after  the  I'^.ii^^lish  Westport,  in  l^tjVDjishire,  near 
Plyiuouth,— tlie  ^^'estpol■t  frv>ai  which  Sir  Francis 
Drake  set  sad  f'>r  the  8i>al!i^;h  main.  NeitheM-  ^VHS  it 
named  from  the  town  on  bea\itiful  Clew  liay,  in  the 
west  of  Ireland,  in  Conuau^ht,  -where  was  the  family 
sea.tof  that  Tjcrd  ^A'estport  wlio  hatl  Thomas  de  (^nineey 
for  his  tut(->r.  It  is  true  that  'William  Gillilaud  was  an 
IrislniKUJ,  and  tle\t  if  any  man  had  a  rit!;ht  to  name  this 
tosvn,  that  rii.>:ht  was  his,  bnt  he  never  called  it  NTest- 
port.  His  name  f..r  the  jdace  was  I'.ESSr.OKO,  after 
his  daughtf'i-  r,lizal)eth. 

This  nanu-  we  have  taken  the  lil)erty  to  restore  upon 
our  title-])ag('  and  cover.  (.)f  all  the  twelve  original  ])at- 
ents  into  which  tin-  soil  of  our  township  was  divided,  as 
they  were  j^ianted  l.y  ]>ritish  kinp;  oi'  American  Congress, 
(ine  onl\  was  named  and  setth-d  by  the  man  who  first 
owned  it,  and  that  v.-a.s  Giililand's  IJessboro.  Upon  it 
stood  the  first  settlement,  and  the  only  one  lu-fore  the 
Eev(dnti()i!,  which  Ijroke  into  the  moiK)tony  of  the 
]n-imev;il  forest.  Had  iln^  prificely  plans  oi  Cxilliland 
been  fultilled,  the  (pniint  and  {)retty  naj.ne  wouhl  never 
ha.ve  been  ehan,L,'iHl.  ?Tad  (ieoru;e  the  Ihird  of  Eng- 
land bet'ii  a  Sensible  ujan,  had  Benedict  Arnold  bt^en  an 
honest  one.-  in  a  word,  if  tlu^  jnoneer  work  of  William 
tlillilaiid  I, ad  not  bee.n  swept    (dean   out   of    the    Cham- 


nisT(>in'  OF  wrsrroirr 

\»\ixni  valley  by  tju;  rl)l)  atiJ  iiow  of  tlie  tiaes  (jf  tlio 
.  Uevolution.  the  place  wouK]  still  be;  kuown  by  the 
household  luiiiio  of  the  little  daughter.  It  pleases  us 
to  recall  it,  with  its  suggestion  of  family  alTecti<;u  and  of 
baronial  rights,  and  we  otlV;]-  it  to  the  nii^nKn-y  of  one 
of  the  niost  romantic  and  pietuiesquo  figures  in  the 
liistory  of  this  region. 

"Elizai-ie'Jitowu"  is  oiily  a  paraphi'ase  of  "13essbor(j," 
more  stately  and  less  niu.sical.  It  was  chosen  for  the 
title  of  the  new  township  erected  in  171)8,  eoiuj)rising 
the  present  tow)ishi[)s  of  Elizabethtown  and  West[)i>rt. 
It  was  tlien  thirty-four  years  siuce  Gilliland's  tirst  en- 
trance into  the  Chaniphiin  valley  as  a  colonizer,  and  he 
himself  had  been  dead  two  years,  but  his  claim  to  c<;)n- 
sideration  was  still  recognized  in  the  choice  of  a  namf. 
It  is  thought  that  those  who  named  the  township  at 
that  time  meant  to  Inmor  the  wife  of  Gilliland,  riither 
than  his  daughter,  whfj  bore  the  same  name. 

That  Elizabeth,  by  tiic  way,  who  has  been  so  honored 
in  our  Jiomeuclature  married  Dfiniel  Eoss,  Eirst  Judge 
of  the  C\)nrt  of  Common  Pleas  of  Essex  county,  and 
many  of  her  descendants  are  still  living  in  the  eounty. 
Slie  was  a  child  only  one  or  two  years  old  in  ITbl, 
when  the  patent  of  Dessboro  was  first  >urveved  ;ind 
named,  auel  was  at  that  time  (xiililamrs  youngest  child, 
though  Milnns  were  born   afterward. 

The  villageof  Westjtort  uas  oiiginally  calle<l  "North- 
west Ea\,"  taking  its  iMinjefrom  theliay  at  the  head  of 
whieh  it  stands.  This  bay  is  on.-  of  the  hugest  on  th-- 
iakf,   aja!    uas    named    \rj\    earlv    iij   its    hi>t.)rv.     The 


4  iiisTujiv  OF  wi:sTr<)Rr 

Fieiii-]i  eallf  d  it  "Baiu  des  TtocliPr  rtndus,"or  "Bay  oi'  tlio 
Split  Kocks,"  and  it  is  so  marked  on  Sauthier's  iiia]>  of 
1779.  It  is  iutciestiii,L;-  to  noto  how  plainly  this  uame 
iudicates  the  aj)])roacli  of  the  FitMu  h  discoverers  from 
the  north.  -When  the  early  explor.:n-s  had  r^ccasion  to 
refer  to  the  bay,  they  said,  "It  is  that  great  bay  which 
you  enter  after  passing  Split  Rock,  keeping  to  the  deeji 
Avator  along  t-he  cliffs,  as  a  careful  sailor  naturally  Mil!.'- 
On  the  other  hand,  tlie  name  of  Northwest  Ba^'  shows 
just  as  clearly  the  approach  of  the  English  from  the 
south.  The  bay  west  of  Crown  Point  ft)rt,  to  which 
we  now  give  the  old  name  of  Bnlwagga,--  was  then 
caileil  West  Bay,  ;tnd  it  seems  ji'ain  that  Northwest 
Bay  was  named  by  the  ]-h)glisli  with  reference  to  this, 
reckoning  the  points  of  the  com}>ass  from  their  most 
im])ortant  post,  Crown  Point. 

Tliough  otficially  nameil  We.^tpoit  in  LSb"),  the  vil- 
lage lelained  its  e;irly  name  for  njany  \ears.  As  late 
as  ISiO  We  tind  mentionetl  t:ven  in  the  town  records 
both  Northwest  iJay  and  Pleas;int  Valley  y{\u'  oV\  naaie 
of  Elizabethtowni.  Old  people  to  this  day  speak  of 
going  to"tlie  ^'alley,"  andto'"the  Falls,"  anil,  es{ieciall\- 
if  they  live  on  the  high  lands  neai-  the  Ijlack  Itiver, 
••down  to  the  l-ay."  Old  letters  are  still  preserved 
directed  to  '•Northwest    Bay,    Eliz  d)etlitown.""    written 

*KOTK.  Governor  George  Clinton  called  it  "BuUwagen  Bay,"  Jure  13.  17S0,  in 
a  letter  to  Washing-ton,  (Clinton  Papers,  MSS.  Doc.  No.  2970,)  and  also  ia  a  ItUer 
to  Gen.  Ho%ve,June  14,  1780,  ^C.  P.  %'j-i,')  and  in  a  Ittterlo  Col.  Robert  \an  Rens- 
>elaer,  (date  aboutjune  2,  17^.)  writes,  -Your  letter  of  last  night  dated  at  Bull- 
wa^jtn  Bay."  This  \v;is  during,'- the  pursuit  of  Sir.  John  Johnson  afur  he  had  his 
raid  on  Oic  Muhawk  valley,  aiui  was  makiii^jf  his  escape   to  C"anada. 

-Lctt.jr  from  H.  a.  XOBI.E. 


jnsToh'Y  OF  WKsrroirr  a 

before  the  days  of  posL-office  st!Uii]is,  auil  eviileiitly  ia- 
tcjideJ  to  be  ean-iod  by  private  ine-jseuger. 
-  The  tt)wnship  of  Westport  contains  two  post- 
offices,  Westport  iuicl  Wadhanis  Mills,  the  latter 
built  upon  the  falls  of  the  ]5o(iuet  river,  in  the 
nortliern'  part  of  the  town.  This  villuge  was  named 
after  Genei'al  Limian  Wadhaius,  an  early  resident  and 
ruill-ov.uer,  who  wa^  prominent  in  the  annals  of  the  place. 
It  is  likely  that  the  present  name  was  given  to  our 
town  by  "old  Judge  Hatch."  who  wrote  his  name 
"Cha-rles  Hatch,  lilsquire,"  and  was  a  leading  tigure  in 
oivr  ancient  history.  Hv  was  one  of  a  committee  of 
three  appointed  to  run  the  line  dividing  the  original 
Elizabetht(jwu,  which  stretched  from  Keeue  to  the  shore 
of  Lake  Champlain,  into  two  townships,  the  eastern  of 
which  was  the  present.  Westport.  Traditi(jn  has  not 
handed  down  to  us  the  names  (jf  the  other  members  of 
the  committee,  but  it  is  plain  that  ''the  old  Squire,"  as 
we  call  iiim,  must  have  known  tin.'  choice  and  agreed  to 
it.  A  wihl  fancy  suggests  that  one  of  that  committee 
was  a  Scotchman,  born  near  the  \\'est  Port  of  Edin- 
burgh, an  I  had  aiicestors  wlio  were  "v^ut  in  the  '45," 
and  s.uig,  (if  the  song  was  written   then,) 

••TlKMi  up  with  tin"  West  l\nt  an'  k't  us  ^mc  free. 
And  Its  lio!   fur  \Uv  honu.-ts  of  liouuie  DuikI.h':"' 

Ibit  thi'  reason  for  the  name  is  obvious  enougli,  and 
tiie  committee  were  not  trying  to  be  original.  Doubt- 
less thny  relisjied  the  commercial  sound  of  the  "port'" 
and  saw  visions  of  tin'  harbor  Hlled  with  sliipping,  and 


*i  uisTdUY  OF  \vi:sri'<)irr 

i^f'.'it  liclies  (.'oinini;'  fi'oui  the  iron  niincs.  T\\v\  had 
never  s.-en  the  j^^eopiaphieal  g.-i-ctteer  of  19U0,  with  col- 
niiiu  i'ftei-  cohmui  of  ;iii  unhrolceii  successuon  of  places 
named  Westj)ort !  We  mav  hxjk  iqion  it  now  as  an  iu- 
terostinj^  hmgnage-proof  that  an  Essex  cinudv  lake 
tt.wn,  in  the  ohl  days,  always  looked  to  the  lake  for  its 
ntn)e. 


r.orxi  >AiM  i:s. 

\\'est[)oit  is  hounded  on  the  nmih  by  the  towns  of 
Lewis  and  Essex,  on  the  east  hy  the  state  of  Vermont, 
on  the  south  by  tiie  tiu\  n  of  ^^loiiah,  and  on  the  \\e8t 
by  the  towji  of  Elizabe^htll^vn. 

The  north  boumhiry  is  :<  straight  line,  inn  bv  snrvev- 
or"s  ehain  and  eoiufiiss.  It  was  intende-d  t. .  be  a  due 
east-and-uest  lin.',  but  nMiu-  to  the  inipeifeetions  of 
saiveyors"  in>tnui).>nts  In  the  eight. •••ntli  e.nturv,  when 
the  line  was  run.  it  has  a  sliglit  inclination  to  the  in)rtlj- 
t-ast  and   sonth-u  t-st.''' 


•NOTE  Wnile  studyinir  the-  s-jbjci-t  of  the  old  town  lines,  a.  letter  was  received 
from  Mr.  Wui.  Pierson  Jiidion.  Deputy  State  Kni;incLT,  with  the  following  ex- 
planation : 

"The  iine<  which  jrc  shown  on  the  Unitnl  States  Geological  Survey  maps 
;ireTrue,  (or  aitrunomica',)  Nrth-am!  South  and  True  E;ist-and-West,  whilethe 
old  To.vn  lines,  to  which  vou  rcfir.  are  the  muKnelie  East-and- West  lines  of  iryj 
The  deviation  >.f  t!ie»e  old  lines  i^  the  ma^-netic  declination  of  the  needle  at  the 
Uiiie  the  surveys  were  made.  The  (juestion  as  to  how  much  this  declination  was, 
and  what  the  correct  d-.rection  of  thcie  lines  should  be,  is  one  which  has  been,  and 
row  i.s,  before  the  Courts,  ar.d  has  been  the  subject  of  much  discussion  and  many 
opinions." 

This  letter  is  intended  to  uns^tr  t'.i.-  question  in  a  Kmcrai  way,  and  is  net  to  b,- 
taken   a.s  s;  ecitialU  a;  (..>mi'  t..  .r.v  ;;:it'  vii.ar  lir.e  (.r  5-.t  of  lines. 


iiisToin'  OF  WKSTj'oirr 

It  wculJ  Hppcar  from  some  ol  J  records  thai  the  north 
line  was  originally  intended  to  ru)i  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Black  river,  but  if  i^o,  a  change  was  made  at  some  time 
unrecorded,  perhaps  when  a  new  survey  rectified  the 
lines  of  the  patents. 

We  learn  from  tho  old  town  records  that  in  18 iS  our 
uortheru  boundary  was  in  danger.  At  the  town  meet- 
ing in  March  every  voter  gave  his  voice  in  siipport  of  a 
resolution  settijig  forth  that  the  citizens  of  Westport 
did  protest  against  a  petition  from  the  towji  of  Essex 
to  the  state  Legislature,  which  petition  prayed  that  a 
strip  one  mile  wide  of  our  domain  should  be  set  oif  to 
our  uortheru  neighbor.  Our  supervisor,  then  John  H. 
Low,  was  authorized  to  send  a  copy  of  the  j'esolution 
to  our  Piepresentative  at  Albany,' and  the  measures 
taken  were  plainly  suflicient  to  prevent  further  aggres- 
sion from  the  north.  -  I  do  not  understand  this  at  all, 
init  I  sii-<}iect  a  "scho'ol  lioustj  war,""  over  a  school  dis- 
trict which  lay  in  both  towns. 

The  eastern  boundary  is  the  irregular  and  invisible 
lin--',  .drawn  throngh  the  waters  of  Lake  Charnplain, 
which  marks  the  division  between  New  York  and  Ver- 
mont. If  is  not  e(]uidistant  from  shore  to  shore,  but 
f  .Hows  the  channel,  or  deepest  part  of  the  lake.  The 
towns  east  of  this  line  are  Ferrisburgh  and  Pauton,  in 
Addi-«)n  county,  Vt. 

Th*-  southern  boundary  is  a  straight  line,  except  for 
a  small  jog  on  the  east  side  of  Bald  Knob,  made  for  the 
sake  of  consistency  with  the  lines  of  some  of  the  lots  of 
the  Iron  Ore  Tract.     This  Hue  was  run  in  18-19.     From 


>•  iiisroh'Y  OF  \vi:srrnirr 

]S1.-)  to  LS^O  thrh.uiULlary  was  adingoha!  liur  frmn  tlu' 
soutli-.-ast  ec>rii..ri)f  Eli/alM:'t!it.)u  ii  to  -'the  olrl  oro-boa 
wliaif."  wliicli  w  as  tlio  teiTniiius  of  on.-  of  the  roatU  frotu 
tlieChf-everon'-l)*-!.  This  iu^'huh^.l  IliMKnoh  .iiid  J'art- 
k'tt  poii.l,  as  woll  as  tho  busy  mining  settlement  of  "the 
Chcevor."  ■  As  a  lar-er  and  hirger  popuhitiou  dustererl 
around  the  mine  shafts,  there  was,  of  course,  an  iu- 
eiersL'd  nujnber  of  voters,  who  were  obliged  to  g(^  to  the 
village  of  Westpojt,  eight  or  nine  miles  away,  to  cast 
tlieir  votes.  With  a  polling  ])laee  only  two  miles  away, 
at  Port  ITeni-y,  (his  eame  to  seem  quire  al>surd,  and 
steps  were  soon  tak.m  to  set  off  this  southern  tri;iugle 
to  the  town  of  .^I.uiah.  Our  j.resent  sinithern  bound..- 
ry  was  determined  bv  the  sontliern  line  of  Gilliland's 
];essboro.  as  direeted  by  the  act  of  tbe  Legislature 
whieh  made  the  ehange. 

Tiie  northern  });ut  -  ■!'  tie'  western  boundary  follows 
th>;  eour.-.e  of  th^e  Idaek  liver,  "as  it  winds  and  tarns." 
The  t(nvn  line  is  nol  in  the  middle  ■  f  the  stream,  but 
follou  s  the  eastern  b;.nk.  Consequently  every  bridg.^ 
\\hieh  crosses  Blael:  river  is  upon  Elizabethtown  terri- 
tory, an.l  must  be  built  and  repaired  at  the  expensi' 
ct  that  town.  Thi-,  caimv  arrangement  is  due  to  the 
shrewtlness  of  Squire  Hatch,  bent  upon  the  advantage 
of  his  own  town,  while  the  eoinmis^ionprs  from  EH/.a- 
l»ethtown  thought  only  of  keeping  control  of  as  much 
of  the  water  power  a.s  po.~>.-,il,.li;,^:- 


e\OTK.     Aftor  this  W.I 


I..  Brow.),  -.iilor.i  tne   (oli.v.ir-    ^•.h■.^h    roil 


t!cn.  apptarc  i  .n  the  iilizabethtown    Post  (Georfft 


the  history   of   this   Louri'larv 


II] STORY  OF  WKSrroh'T  9 

CHAPTER  Xlll. 
AN   ACT  for  dividing  Eli^abethtow^,  in  the  Ccninty  of  Essex. 

Passed  March  24,  iSij. 

I.  lie  it  enacted  by  the  people  of  the  State  of  New  York,  represented  in  Senate 
and  Assembly,  That  from  and  after  the  tir.st  Moud.iy  of  April  next,  all  that  part  of 
Elizahethtown,  in  the  county  of  Essex,  bounded  as  follows,  to-wit  ;  Heginning  on 
the  north  line  of  the  said  p;iizabethtown  at  the  mouth  of  the  Black  river;  thence 
up  the  said  river  as  it  win.!s  and  turn*  on  the  east  shore  of  S:iid  river,  until  it  in  - 
t';rsects  the  south  line  of  Mor<:an'»  patent;  thence  due  south  to  the  north  line  of 
Moriah;  thence  easterly  on  said  line  of  Moriah  to  the  ore  bed  wharf  ;  thence  east 
to  tlie  cast  line  of  this  State;  theuce  northerly  on  the  east  line  of  this  State  to  the 
south-east  corner  of  Essex;  thence  west  on  ths  south  line  of  Essex  to  the  place  of 
beginning  be.  and  hereby  is  erected  into  a  separate  town,  by  the  name  of  Westport, 
and  that  the  first  town  meeting  be  held  at  t)ie  dwelling  house  now  occupied  by 
Charles  Hatch,  in  said  town. 

II.  Be  it  further  e'nacted,  that  all  the  reir.aininjir  part  of  EHzabethtown  shall  be 
and  remain  a  separate  town  by  the  name  of  EHzabethtown  and  that  the  next  town 
meeting  shall  be  held  at  the  dwelling  house  now  occupied  by  Norman  Xewell  and 
son  in  said  town. 

III.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  as  soon  as  may  be  after  the  first  Tuesday 
in  April  u«xt,  the  supervisors  and  overseers  of  the  poor  of  the  said  to\vns  of  Eliz- 
abcth'.own  and  Westport,  on  notice  first  being  civen  by  the  supervisors  of  said 
tor/ns  for  that  purpose,  shriU  meet  together  and  divide  the  money  and  poor  belong- 
ing to  the  town  of  EHzabethtown  previous,  agreeable  to  the  last  tax  list,  and  that 
each  of  the  said  towns  shall  forever  thereafter  respectfully  maintain  their  own  poor. 

The  above  is  copied  from  pag;c  too  of  the  bound  volume  of  the  Session  Laws  of 
iSi4-iS.  The  late  Judi^e  Charles  Hatch,  who  built  the  fine  old  brick  mansion  in 
iS-'S  v.hich  still  stands  in  the  village  of  Westp'-.rt,  who  was  noted  for  cunning  and 
shrewdness,  is  credited,with  having  drafted  the  above  copied  law,  making  the  line 
between  Klizabethtswn  and  Westport  follow  the  east  bank  of  the  Black  River  so 
that  the  former  to-.vii  v.-ould  be  obliged  to  build  all  thr  bridges  across  that  stream. 
However,  in  due  time  the  matter  was  tested.  It  came  about  that  a  new  bridjic 
was  needed  across  the  Black  River  near  the  Nathaniel  Pierson  place  just  abo\e 
Meigsvillc  proptr,  there  being  long  and  soir.ewhat  expensive  "approaches"  to 
construct  each  side  of  the  stream.  Tlie  late  Jacob  Lobdell,  son  of  Captain  John 
Lobdeli,  of  Battle  of  Plattsburgh  fame,  was  Highway  Commissioner  in  Eli;^abeth- 
town,  the  late  Marcus  Storrs  holding  that  office  in  the  town  of  Weilport.  Action 
wascoin«enced  in  March,  1S70,  to  compel  the  town  of  Westport  to  stand  lialf  the 
expense  of  conitruciing  tlie  bridge,  approaches,  etc.  Richard  1...  H»nd  acted  as 
counsel  for  Elizabelhtown,  Waldo,  Tohey  &  Grover  acting  in  behalf  of  Westport. 
The  matter  in  dispute  was  finally  referred  to  Peter  S.  Palmer,  the  late  well-known 
Plittsburgh  lawyer  and  historian.  He  decided,  in  accordance  with  the  general 
stitute  applying  to  such  cases,  that  the  towns  of  Elii  ibethtown  and  Westport 
Were  jointly  and  equally  liable  to  the  expenses  incident  to  bridge  construction,  etc., 
along  the  Black  River  town  lino.  Reference  to  page  50  of  the  pamphlet  of  proceed- 
ings of  tlie  Board  of  Supervisors  for  the  year  1S74  shows  that  a  judgment  for  $.^00 
wus  jiaid  by  Wc.-.tporL. 


i(t  .  iiusTonY  OF  wKSTrmrr 

The  soutlioiii  i)ait  of  the  western  bouudary  is  a 
straiglit  line  Jrawu  from  the  ]3hick  river  to  the  south 
line  of  Elizabethtown.  The  point  at  M-hicli  this  lino 
touches  tlie  Black  river  is  also  the  point  at  which  the 
river  is  touched  by  the  north  line  of  Skene's  patent, 
and  was  determined  by  that  fact.  This  was  intended 
to  be  a  due  north-and-.~,outh  line,  but  it  has  the  same 
variation  as  all  the  early  patent  lines,  a  slight  inclina- 
tion to  the  north-west. 

There  was  a  dispute  over  the  location  bi  the  south- 
western corner  of  the  t<nvn  after  the  ii'on  mines  near 
!Miueville  began  to  rir-e  in  value.  All  the  boundary  lines 
were  very  clear  on  the  map,  but  standing  among  the 
rocks  and  trees  on  the  mountain  side,  it  was  not  so  easy 
to  prove  just  where  tlie  early  surveyors  had  intended 
tliem  to  run.  So  a  new  survey  was  ordered,  and  it  was 
discovoed  that  the  selikineut  which  had  l^oen  from  the 
first  ctdled  "Seventy-five,"  because  it  was  believed  to 
lie  upon  Lot  No.  75  of  tlie  Iron  Ore  Tract,  in  Eliza- 
bethtown,  actually  lay  upon  Lot  No.  48  in  Westport 
and  Lot  No.  47  in  Moriah.  There  was  a  feeling  of 
gratification  in  \Vest[Kiit  at  the  time  to  tiad  that  she 
liad  a  larger  share  than  was  supposed  in  this  rich  terri- 
tory, and  it  is  curious  to  retlect  how  little  it  matter!^ 
now.  None 'of  our  ancient  border  wars  would  be  pos- 
sible to-day.  They  wt;re  all  brought  on  by  economic 
conditions  no  longer  to  lie  found.  The  water  power  (jf 
the  Black  river  is  now  worth  no  one's  scheming.  "The 
Cheever"  and  '-S.-v-'nt y-fivc"  put  no  large  taxes  into  the 
hands  of  the  i.-olleeior,   nor  do  thev   furnish  voters  for 


iiisrom'  or  wr.srroirr  ii 

town  rueotiiHj;  day.  K.itlior  lias  the  twwn  dulf-cl  oul  its 
iiitvigvc  charity  io  the  poor  who  ^vel•t•  left  .straii'.letl  at 
St'veiity-fivc  for  Years  aftei-  the  mines  shut  ihjwii.  To- 
day I  believe  tliert.'  are  no  more  souls  to  be  found  there 
than  lived  on  the  dry,  hilly  farms  before  ore  l)egau  tt> 
be  raised  from  the  'I'lion^i^srai  shaft, and  the  short,  briglit 
dav  of    its  jii'osperity  dauiied. 

CivinL;;  uieasuremonts  whicli  do  not  claim  to  be  exact, 
but  close  enough  to  give  a  good  general  idea  of  the  ex- 
teiit  of  the  town,  the  length  of  the  north  line  is  about 
nine  iniK's,  and  that  of  the  south  line  live  miles.  From 
the  ncjith-east  cornel-,  ^\here  the  Essex  line  tout-lies  the 
lake,  to  the  south-AVest  cornel'  at  the  mining  hamlet  of 
"Seventy-tlve,""  as  tlie  crow  flies,  it  is  about  thirteen  and 
one-half  miles.  If  the  same  crow  should  tiy  from  the 
month  of  iJlack  river  to  the  IMoriah  line,  he  would  go 
a  littlf  less  than  nine  miles,  and  if  he  tfew  from  the 
month  of  the  brooK  in  the  village,  straight  west  from 
the  lake  shore  until  he  came  to  the  town  line  at 
l>lack  rive)-,  he  wouM  go  f(>ur  and  one-half  miles.  Fly- 
ing frotn  Nichols  ]>ond,  straight  east  to  FlutV  Point,  he 
wonldgotive  and  a  half  irjjles.  J)ismissing  the  crow 
fi'om  our  service,  if  a  boy  in  a  rowboat  took  a  fancy 
to  follow  every  curve  of  the  shore  line,  he  might  row 
eighteen  miles  in  ^^'est^)ort  waters.  Before  ^Moriah 
was  ceded  a  jiart  of  our  tiM-ritin-y  in  LS19.  he  might  ha\e 
rovvi'il  tweiitv. 


1:?  lusTniiY  OF  \vi:sTi'()irr 

Westport  cannot    bo  .^aiJ  to  be  densoly  popalated 

The  censu.s  of  lOUO  reports  t]ie  total  ])opnlatioii  as  one 

thousand  seven   hunared   twenty-seven   (1,727).     This, 

for  a  township  containing  about  tliirty-five  thousand' 

acres,  ^ives  pl^'uty  of  breathing  space.      But   the   main 

body  of  the  popuUition  i.s  gathered   within   -an  area   of 

not  more  t],an  half  the  total  aereag.,-- perhaps  it  would 

not  be  incorrect  to  say  within  out-third.      The   vilhio-e 

of  Westport  is  reckoned  to  contain  live   hundred   .ixty- 

three   suuls,    and   AVadhams  Mdls  .>,.e  hundred    sixty. 

At    the    last  presidential  ..kx-tion,  held   in  1900     there 

were  one  hundred  and    six  votes  east  in   the  iirst    or 

northern  district,  and  two  hundred  and  sixty-nine  iu 

the  second  or  southern  district,  making  a  t.>tal  of  three 

hundred  and  seventy-fi\e. 

Westport  is  not  as  thickly  settled  as  it  was  fifty  venrs 
ngo,  as  vvdl  be  seen  by  the  fuHowIng  ligurus: 

On  J]arr'smap.of  Essex  countyrpubli.hcd  in  IS'^O 
the  popuhUion  is  given  as  one  thuusund  three  hundred 
twenty-two  (1,322^  The  t.wn  at  that  tin.e  inchuled  ll., 
southern  portion,  containing  the  Chcevcr  ore-bed  s,H 
otf  to  Moriah  in  1S40.  It.  Isi5  the  j.oj.ulation  had  in- 
creased to  f.vo  thousand  ninety-four  (20;)1).  Before 
the  next  census  the  area  of  the  township  had  been  di- 
minished by  thelo.s  ...f  the  territory  menti<.ned,  but 
nevertheless  we  reached  the  highwat.-r  mark  of  two 
thousand  three  hundrc'd  tifty-two  (2:]o2i.  ^^•estport 
H'ls  never  coine  up  to  tlmt  level  since,  jf  ^,^\{\,^  ,,.. 
-"'mb.uvd    that   J.ek.on   ..p.n.d   his   luruave   in   IS  IS 


nisTiih'Y  or  WKsTj'oirj-  7.v 

and  tliose  were  the  ,tr;il;i  Jays  of  tlio  iron  busiuess.  For 
I  lie  next  tweiity-fivo  ^ears  the  }>0}mlatioii  varied  a> 
folio u-.s  : 

1850 --2352. 

lS5c5,— 20n. 

18G0,— 1981. 

1SG5 -1GS7.  ■  :., 

1870,-1577: 

1875—1981. 

Doubtle.ss  ill  1875  the  census  taker  enrolled  all  the 
men  employed  in  working  upon  the  railroad,  which 
would  explain  the  increase. 

Tiie  Supervisors'  Report  of  1900  gives  the  exact  num- 
ber of  acres  in  town  as  thirty-four  thousand  five  hun^ 
dred  eighty-five  (34,585).  The  total  valuation  of  real 
estate  is  set  down  as  8728,815.  Of  course  it  will  be 
un-lrrstood  that  this  is  the  assessed  valuaticn,  for  pur- 
poses of  taxa!i(Mj.  The  actual  value,  or  selling  ])rice  of 
a  farm  or  a  house  is  often  double  the  assessment.  Per- 
.^onal  ]n-o])erty  i,>  given  as  883,200.  and  this  should  be 
multiplied  at  least  by  three  to  express  actual  condi- 
tions. The  census  of  1900  shows  a  in;i,rked  increase  in 
the  vahu'  of  property  over  that  of  1890. 

PIK  )I  )rc'lTc  )NS. 

Our  pr(->ductions  are  ina-jdy  agrieulturah-  hav,  oats, 
potatoes  and  applet,  with  milk.  butt-T  and  wool.  Nf> 
iron  has  l)een  mined  or  manufactured  f(>v  manv  vears. 
TainiI.e!'  is  sawed  and  shii'ped  in  moderate  ([uantities. 
<-lii«'tlv  from  the  tiiilb  ;it  Wadhams. 


^4  iiisrouY  OF  \\'i:sri'(,irr 

There  arc  still  some  of  Ihu  (jiL-iint  liotii.>  iu.lustrics  of 
colonial  times  carried  on  among  us  to  a  small  extent. 
Some  homespun  woolen  yarn  is  knit  into  lieavy  socl<.s 
and  mittens,  which  are  brought  iut(^  the  stores  at  Wad- 
hams  every  fall.  Warm  ;.nd  durable  Ihey  are,  too, 
every  i)air  worth  three  that  nre  factory  W(,.ven.  These 
are  mo.st  often  made  by  the  older  women,  who  were 
taught  the  homely  jtrt  of  knitting  in  their  childhood. 
The  girls  nowiida3snnike'a]attenbuigir"  lace  "throws," 
to  hang  on  the  corners  of  picture  frames. 

The  weaving  of  rag  carpets  on  a  hand  loom  is  still  a 
thriving  industry,  though  the  number  of  weavers  is  few. 
The  massive  looms  are  veiy  (juaint  and  interesting,  and 
the  skill  of  the  weaver  is  still  that  which  was  required 
before  tlie  days  of  steam  inveiition.  Perhaps  tliere  are 
a  half  dozen  of  these  primitive  Icjonis  in  town,  none  of 
them  built  within  sixty  years,  and  sr.nio  of  them  very 
much  older  than  that.  I  know  of  but  three  which  are 
now  fitted  for  vv(jrk. 

Of  the  extinct  industries,  the  most  unusual  was  the 
liiaking  of  clay  pipes.  At  Colk^  Cay,  near  the  place  of 
the  early  llaymond  settlement,  lived  an  Kngllshmau  bv 
the  name  of  James  Smith,  alw;iys  distingiiislnnl  bv  the 
tith;  of  ripe-nnd.er  Smith.  He  ami  his  sons  for  years 
i.nide  the  old-fashioned  elay  j.ipes,  in  a  shop  at  one  end 
of  the  farm  house.  The  ].ipe  clay  eame  from  New 
Jersey,  and  the  jupos  were  burned  in  a  kiln  attached  t.j 
the  house.  The  Inirning  was  an  operation  retpiiring 
much  skill  and  ].a[ience.  This  was  the  onlv  placci 
i»ciwe,;n  Albany  ;u.al   .Montr. -d    when-  elay    pipc>,   were 


///sTo/.'v  OF  wKsrroirr  lo 

made.  Tlie  business  was  kept  U]>  until  some  time  in 
the  eij^lities. 

All  the  brick  buililiij<.'s  in  town  were  made  from  brick 
of  our  own  manufacture,  but  none  of  them  have  been 
built  within  thirty  years.  To-day  no  one  builds  of  any- 
thing but  wood,  and  the  bricks  for  foundations  and 
chimneys  come  in  on  the  railroad.  There  were,  at  the 
time  of  our  <^reatest  prosperity,  a  number  of  brick-yards 
in  town,  and  all  agree  that  the  material  was  of  the  best. 

One  unusual  industry  is  that  of  gathering  ginseng 
root  in  the  woods,  to  be  sold  at  a  bigli  price  and  sent 
to  China.  There  is  a  little  spruce  gum  gathered  to  be 
sold  every  year.  ]More  ini])ortant  than  eitlier  of  these, 
though  small,  is  the  trade  in  the  skins  of  furbearing- 
animals.  Every  spring  several  thousand  pounds  of 
maple  sugar  are  made. 

''    'gkoi.ogy. 

l\>v  the  geology  of  West))ort  I  am  entirely  indebted 
to  a  bulletin  issued  in  1805  by  the  Kew  York  State 
Museum,  called  "The  Geology  of  Moriali  and  Westport 
Townships,"  by  James  Furman  Kemp,  in  which  it  is 
said  that 

"The  geology  of  the  eastern  Adirondacks  presents 
niauy  problems  of  interest.  The  townships  along  Lake 
Champlain  contain  within  their  borders  the  contacts 
of  the  labradorite  rocks  -  Cgabbros,  iiorites  and  anor- 
tliosites)  with  the  quartzose  gneisses  and  crystalline 
linit'stones ;  and  the  later-formed  unciinforn^abilities 
of  nil  thr-sf  uith  the  Totsdam  sandstone  of  the    ['[^pcr 


ifi  jiisTouY  OF  WKsrroirr 

Cambrian.  1'he  crystalline  rocks  of  the  Archean  invito 
study  of  botli  igneous  iiiid  ruetarnorpliosed  forins,  while 
along  the  old  shore  lino  are  the  Cambro-Sihuian  sedi- 
ments, UDchnuged,  not  much  disturbed  and  rich  in 
fossils." 

This  will  not  be  especially  ilhiininating  to  the  aver- 
ago  un-geologic  reader,  but  the  language  of  this  science 
has  "uuconforniabilities"  wliich  render  it  difficult  to 
translate.     On  page  332  we  find  this  : 

"The  southern  part  of  Wcstport  is  mainly  gneiss,  but 
the  northern  is  all  auorthosite  and  gabbro.  The  anor- 
thosites  have  an  extended  development  in  Split  Rock 
Mountain,  and  also  appear  in  the  southeast.  The  gab- 
bro is  espeeialh-  important  in  the  central  portion.  The 
sedimentary  rocks  mark  the  southeastern  lake  shore. 
The  Potsdam,  Calciferous,  C'liazy  and  Trenton  are  all 
well  shown." 

In  the  midter  of  tiup  ilikes  it  seems  that  we  are 
somewhat  deficient,  though  s>.veral  "are  exposed  along 
tlio  lake  shore  a  mile  oi'  l\so  noi'tli  of  Westport, — and 
others  appear  in  the  old  iron  mines  oji  the  west  side  of 
the  Split  Rock  ri  :ge.  Rorpliyries,  thi)'  known  in  the 
next  t(.)WL!shij)  noitii,  iiavi-  not  l)etMi  met."' 

As  it  is  (juite  {>ONsil)K,'  th.it  some  reader  may  be  in- 
terested in  tile  di-taiievl  deseiiption  o{  the  "Iron  Mines 
of  \\'est])ort/"   1  will  copy  it  in  full  : 

"There  are  at  pie>ent  no  producing  mines  in  West- 
j)ort,  and  such  as  lia\t'  Ik'.  n  op.'nrd  have  been  idle  for 
nuLtiy  years.  J'^xcept  i)eriia})s  tliti  secoiid  bed  at  Nich- 
ols Rcjuti,  all  that  w,'  viMti  I  'A-iv  eharh   in  th.'  gabbro 


iiiSToh'Y  or  \vi:sTPoirr  n 

series,  aud  {.T;;ive  thus  every  reason  to  infer  tluit  they  are 
titaniferous,  and  such  analyses  as  have  been  avuilabh- 
have  carried  out  this  impression. 

"The  Nichols  Poxd  Mines,— These  are  situated  hif,di 
up  on  a  mountainous  ridpjo  above  Lake Champlaiu,  and 
just  north'  of  Nichols  Pond.  There  are  two  beds  ;  the 
southerly  one  is  in  gueissic  <:^abbro,  and  is  about  9' 
thick.  It  strikes  nearly  east  and  west,  aud  dips  south 
about  SO-.  Tlie  ore  is  magnetite  mixed  with  Jioru- 
blende  and  is  lean.  The  second  bed  lies  more  to  tlu; 
jiorth,  and  shows  tlie  follov.-ing  section,  with  a  strike 
and  dip  .like  the  last.  1.  Hanging  wall  gueiss.  2.  Ore 
r2'-15',  sliot  ore  consisting  of  magnetite  aud  quartz.  3. 
Lean  ore  not  worth  .se])arating  20',  but  of  same  general 
character  as  2.  \.  Compact  feldspathic  rock,  15'.  5. 
lican  shot  ore  aud  quartz  same  character  as  2,  not 
worked.  G,  Foot  ^wall  coarse  gneiss.  Tliere  was  a 
large  sejiarator  in  operation  some  twenty-live  years  ago 
at  Nichols  Pond,  and  a  tiamway  ballasted  with  tailings 
rutis  down  to  the  highway  to  the  e.istward.  These 
udjies  arc  in  lots  IGG  and  IGS  of  the  Iron  Ore  Tmct 
and  on  Campbell  Hill. 

"The  Lejh.k  Hij.l  Mines.— This  name  may  not  be  the 
most  common  or  correct  <uie,  but  it  is  tlie  one  given  us 
id  AVestport.  Tlie  mines  are  near  the  sununit  of  a  hill, 
two  milt's  west  of  Westport,  and  are  several  hundred 
feet  above  Lake  Champlaiu.  They  are  in  gabbro  of  a 
gueissic  habit,  but  at  times  (juite  massive  at  points  not 
fiu-  from  the  ore..  There  are  two  ore  bodies.  The  ore 
is  riciu.'st  in  llie  mithih-  am!  b-'comes  lean   towards   the 


in  111  STOUT  OF  WKsrroirr 

walls;,  \vitli  a1>niul:int  hornblende  ;iurl  garnets.  In  the 
lowest. opening  there  are  4'-G'  of  richest  ore.  Fifty  feet 
liigber  up  there  is  another  opening  on  the  same  ore. 
The  strike  is  east  of  north  and  the  dip  is  high  to  the 
west.  A  little  to  the  east  is  a  second  ore  body,  opened 
by  a  cut  al)put  G'  feet  wide  at  the  bottom.  The  walls 
are  gabbro.  Tiie  mines  are  in  lot  153  of  the  Iron  Ore 
Tract. 

"The  Split  Hock  Mines.—  These  are, opened  in  Split 
Hock  mountain,  about  one  hundred  feet  above  Lake 
Champlaiu,  and  show  very  considerable  excavations, 
Avhich  are  practically  dry,  as  tlie  situation  for  mining 
is  very  convenient.  The  ore  is  10'  thick,  strikes  X.  70- 
80^  E.  and  dips  50  ^  south.  Gabbro  forms  the  walls 
right  np  to  the  ore  on  both  sides.  It  is  the  metamor- 
phosed variety  witli  the  copious  reaction  runs  of  gar- 
nets. The  wi'iter  was  told  that  there  is  another  opening 
\o  the  south.  There  is  a  se]"»arator  on  a  level  with  the 
lake,  and  above  the  mines,  in  a  terrace  in  a  break  in 
tile  hills,  are  the  old  boarding  houses.  From  this  ter- 
race there  is  a  most  superb  view  of  the  lake  and  the 
Green  Mountains.  The  mine  is  just  across  from  Fort 
Cassin."' 

And  tlui  summing  up  of  tiie  whole  matter  is  this  : 
"There  seems  little  if  any  jaospect  of  j)rofitable  mines 
in  Westport  in  the  future.  Those  ores  that  are  rea- 
sonably nt-ar  the  laki-  are  certainly  titaniferous,  and 
cannot  be  used  unth-r  the  piesent  calculation  of  blast 
furnace  -slags  and  mixtures.     The  non-titariiferous  ores 


jusTOKY  OF  ]vi:sTr<)}rr  lu 

wbieli  liiay  be  in  the  westoni  limits  of  the  town  are  ex- 
treniely  inaccessible,  if  indeed  in  any  quantity.'" 

One  of  the  Mineville  ore  beds,  called  the  Cook  iSliaft 
Mine, -is  crossed  by  the  town  line,  so  that  its  northern 
openiiig,  called  Thompson's  shaft,  lies  iu  West[)ort, 
l)ut  thisimine  is  no  longer  worked.  Its  ore  is  valuable, 
but  not  so  clioajjly  obtained  <is  that  from  the  other 
mines  of  Moriah.  ^Vest  of  the  school-h(_)Use  at  '■Seventy- 
five,"  (called  juore  commonly  "Fletcherville"  in  Mo- 
riah,)  is  a  body  of  ore  known  as  the  "Humljuj^  Mine," 
a  title  given  it  when  the  ore  was  })roved  to  be  titaiiifer- 
ous,  and  therefore  valueless.  My  information  in  regard 
to  the  mines  at  ''Seventy-five"  has  been  obtained  from 
Mr.  S.  13.  McKee,  so  long  Engineer  of  Withorbee,  Sher- 
man 1*1'  Co..  at  ]Miueville. 


Our  terms  of  hjcal  geograpdiv  contain  constant  al- 
lusion to  five  or  six  hamlets  which  seem  to  a  stranger 
to  be  little  more  than  a  name.  They  are  referred  to  bv 
the  titles  given  when  they  were  scenes  of  far  greater 
activity  than  can  often  be  tht;  case  now.  There  is 
Braiuard's  Forge,  in  the  extreme  north  west  corner, 
on  the  Black  river,  just  where  Westport,  ]'ii;^abeth- 
town  and  Lewis  join,  and  Avhere  the  teacher  in  the 
school  keeps  the  names  of  pn))ils  on  thrt-t;  separate 
pages  of  the  register,  accordir^g  to  the  town  in  which 
each  one  lives.  In  1807  tliere  was  a  forge  here,  l)uilt 
on    the    Kli/.al)t.lhtown    side    of    the     river,    which    is 


ff/STCj/n'  or  wKsrroirr 


allnded  to  in  the  dd  town  records  as  'OFor^^au's 
New  Forge,"  l)ut  is  t-,illi;-d  ''Jjiaiuai'd's"  iu  1817,  aud 
lias  k(>|it  that  najne  for  noajdv  a  century.  This  was 
the  earliest  and  one  of  tiie  l)est  kriowu  for;^-es  of  the 
number  built  uj)on  the  DIack  river  between  the  bef^-iu- 
niug  of^tlie  nineteenth  century  and  the  final  decleiision 
of  the  iron  industry  in  Westport  and  Elizabethtown. 
Now  you  find  th;-re  a  ste;ini  s.iw-nnll,  a  scJjool-house, 
half  a  dozen  farni-hoases,  and  the  little  river  slippinn- 
l>y  untler  the  bridge',  still  darkened  by  the  stain  of  iron 
ere  to  the  color  \\hi(di  !j;ave  it  its  name  from  the  first 
settlers.  It  is  dwindled  to  loss  than  half  its  volume 
since  those  days,  in  conmion  with  everv  other  water 
course  in  Mie  country. 

Then  there  is  jl(-i-;sville,  up  the  Black  river  to  the 
south-west,  i)erha]>s  thi-ee  miles.  Here  is  a  school- 
house,  and  a  nunsln'r  of  hous(>s  on  Ijoti,  .ides  of  the 
river,  si\  hun.ii.d  f.^t  above  sim  h'vel,  and  deep  within 
the  mountains,  witji  the  wild  scenery  of  tht^ , great  unin- 
habit.-d  Ir.Mi  Ore  'J'ract  to  the'  west  and  south.  If  v(m 
should  follow  (!;e  ro:,d  turth.'r  uj)  the  river,  you  would 
tind  on  y  a  d.'sol.ite.  almost  uninhabited  region  foi- 
mili'>  and  miles. 

]-\'W  and  faint  -aw  the  memories  of  ?kb;'igs.  His  name 
was  (iuy,  and  he  owik  1  the  mill  an.l  the  hn-ge,  and  1 
know  not  wliiit  b,>ide>.  II,.  w.nt  away  some  thirtv 
yeais   ago,    he    and    all    his    fauiiiv,    in    a    l>i 


''    emigrant 


waijon    iii-axsn 


four  horses,  to  a  place  indefinitely 
given  as  "out  w.;st.'"  I  tuid  that  in  th.'  historv  of  our 
town,    the   p.  r.pk     ulio   h;.\.     iii..\r,_!    .uvay    mav   almost 


iiisTnuY  OF  \vi:srruirr  ji 

always  be  s;uJ  to  li;ive;^otie  to  oiu^  uf  two  plto's.  Either 
they  went  "(.)at  west"  or  "over  tht;  hike."  The  tirst 
means  an  enterprising  seeking  of  new  countries,  the 
second  an  unambitious  return  to  the  ohler  civili/.atiou  of 
New  Enp;hind,  often  expressed  by  the  phmse,  "went 
back  to  his  wife's  folks."  So  much  of  the  western 
shore  ofLake  Chatuplain  v/;is  settled  l>y  emigrants  from 
New  England  that  ii^oing  k")aek  "i>\*m-  the  Lake"  was,  in 
the  earlier  days,  something  like  going  back  to  the  old 
country.  Cut  Guy  Meigs  disappeared  toward  the  wild 
west,  %vhicli  nio:iMs,  of  course,  that  ho  left  Westport 
bearing  due  south,  not  turiung  literally  t>>  the  west 
until  he  haj  made  his  way  past  i\\i^.  ramparts  of  the 
Adiroudacks.  I  hare  sometimes  discovered  that  when 
men  are  accounted  for  as  having  "gone  west"  anv  time 
befdre  the  last  <"iuarter  century,  they  h;ive,  not  uncom- 
monly, gone  no  further  than  l>utrah).  But  as  for  Meigs 
of  Meigsvilh',  1  knov/  no  mnw  uf  him  than  I  have  here 
sot  down.  Doubtless  his  most  enduring  monument  is 
the  mountain  iiandet  still  callt^l  by  his  name.''' 

In  the  soutliv.>-st  corner,  where  Westpm-t,  Elizabeth- 
town  and  Moiiah  meet,  is  the  lai-ger  Sfttletnent  of 
"Sevtaity-five."  This  was  name'!  fi'om  the  surveyor's 
numl)er  for  tin."  lot  in  the  Iron  Ore  Traet  u[)on  which  it 
w;is  sui)poNed  to  stand.  In  geography  and  in  [)olitics 
"Seventy-five"  is  olijiged  to  belong  to  the  town  of  West- 

*N'0  rE.— There  h.is  been  recently  publiihei.1  ;i  hir^e  volume  coniinin^  a  i^en 
•■ 'lofjicil  record  of  the  .\Icigs  faitiiiv  in  Anicric.i.  in  whuh  it  upjjcirs  that  Guy 
Mei<s  of  .Ntfidsviilc  is  of  the  same  family  ;i<;  Gtnt-r.U  .Meiijs  of  tht  Civil  War,  »s 
well  as  many  ether  notapJe  people.  The  au:liorof  the  book  is  Captain  Henry  H. 
il-itf-;,  a  brother  of  the  la'.c  (Juy  .Mi;i>js. 


--'  JiisToin'  or  wrsrroirr 

port,  Ir.it  ill  fvrrv  tliiiir;  olso  it  is  part  aii.l  pnrcel  of 
^[ori.-di,  or,  to  speak  more  exactly,  of  Mineville.  Hen- 
is  .sitnattnl  the  Cook  Shaft  No.  '2,  one  of  the  system  of 
Moriah  mine^,  which  have  made  such  fortunes  for  their 
owners.  Here  was  once  a  great  furnace,  ofticos,  stores, 
and  a  vil]a<^t.-  of  more  than  tliirty  houses,  witli  a  laro'e 
school-house.  It  remained  a  popuhuis  place  for  some 
time  after  the  mines  shut  down.  Those  who  were  able, 
went  away  as  fas<^,  as  they  found  chauces  to  work  in 
other  places,  lea\ing  a  sediment  of  those  who  were  too 
poor  to  move.  In  184(;  we  fought  with  our  neighbors 
for  the  possession  of  tlu^  soil.  In  189G  either  one 
might  have  had  it  foi'  less  tluin  the  asking,  for  that 
winter  the  poorm.aster  traveled  wearily  over  the  long, 
hilly  ro.ad,  once  a  week,  witli  a  great  load  of  provisions 
to  keep  some  of  the  people  there  from  starving.  This  was 
our  small  share,  as  a  town,  in  the  problen^  of  dealing 
with  the  mass  of  unemploved  poor  which  Moriah  strug- 
gU'd  so  bravely  to  solve  in  those  dark  years. 

Near  the  j.lace  where  tlie  town  line  crosses  Mullein 
I>rook  is  a  saw-mill  and  school-house,  and  we  always 
s|)eak  of  the  n.'iiihborhood  as  ''Stevenson's/'  from  the 
name  of  the  familv  who  h.ive  long  owned  the  mill.  This 
is  also  known  as  "Adirondack  Sjjrings,"'  and  at  one 
time  was  called  "Spfuct-r'.s."  The  oldest  name,  and  one 
seldom  or  n.'v.r  h.  aid  n.w,  was  '"Fisher  ^Fills,"  from 
the  name  of  th-  tir-t  sttth-r. 

Wlure  the  railroad  crosses  the  highway  near  the 
lake  sh<..re  is  a  place  wlu-re  mail  is  left  and 
taken  on  for  a   shut   tim.-  during  the  sumimu-.    called 


HISTORY  OP'  \vi:sri'oirr  'j:i 

,ift»n-  the  boardiug-house  near  by  "Oak  Point."  Tlie 
next  railroad  crossing  tf)  the  uorth  is  spokeo  of  as 
-Graeffes"  or,  more  formally,  the  Wcstport  Farms.  The 
latter  title  indicates  more  properly  all  the  land  between 
the  railroad  and  the  lake,  with  the  residence  on  the 
lake  road,  and  the  numerous  tenement  houses  and 
barns. 

In  the  uorthuast  part  of  the  town,  not  far  from  the 
Essex  line,  on  the  Boquet  river,  lies  "Merriam's  Forge." 
A  passing  stranger  can  see  no  reason  for  the  name,  as 
even  the  rains  of  the  old  forge,  built  in  182o,  were  swept 
away  in  the  tjood  of  1807.  The  dam  in  the  river  is  still 
left,  kept  in  repair  by  the  terms  of  the  will  of  the 
former  owner,  ^Ir.  AVilliam  P.  Merriam,  but  the  water 
runs  away  unemployed  and  useless.  There  is  something 
pathetic  in  this  one  surviving  token  of  the  care  and  en- 
ergy once  lavished  on  the  phice.  The  forge,  with  its 
three  fires,  and  tJie  labor  of  the  colony  of  operatives 
for  whom  the  row  of  houses  were  built,  made  its 
founder  and  owner  a  rich  man.  Now  his  house  by  the 
riverside  stands  empty  most  of  the  year,  and  the  work- 
men's houses  are  tilled  witli  an  agricultural  or  a  wan- 
dering  po{)ulation. 

None  of  the  forges  on  the  IJlack  and  Boquet  were 
Kituated  near  iron  mines.  All  the  ore  was  brought  in 
wagons  from  the  Moriah  mines,  or,  in  latter  times,  from 
the  ore  beds  at  Nichols  Poiul  or  Ledge  Hill.  If  you 
drive  over  the  roads  now  you  may  form  some  idea  of 
the  profits  of  a  business  which  ]i!iid  for  sucii  long  and 
laborious  trans|iortatiou. 


24  jiisTom'  OF  ]VKsTroirr 

The  name  "Jacksonville"  itulicates  to  us  the  mostim- 
poitaut  iron  enterprise  which  Westport  ever  knew,  in 
the  amount  of  money  involved  and  the  actual  results. 
Til'  place  was  upon  a  beautiful  point,  across  the  bav 
to  the  northeast  of  the  village,  now  occujiied  by  the 
houses  of  Mrs.  Hall  and  of  Mr.  Robertson  Marshall. 
The  natne  is  taken  from  that  of  Francis  H.  Jackson,  of 
Boston, 'ivho  built  the  Sisco  furnace  herein  ISiS.at  a  cost, 
it  is  said,  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  massive 
foundations  of  this  furnace  still  remain,  and  much  of 
the  stone  of  its  walls  has  been  useil  in  Mr.  Mai-shall's 
house.  The  house  occujiied  by  Mrs.  Hall  vvas  built 
for  ]Mr.  Jackson's  residence.  The  book-keeper's  lumse 
is  still  in  use,  but  most  of  the  workmen's  houses  havf 
disappeared,  or  are  used  in  other  ways.  The  wharf  is 
still  left,  but  the  heavy  bar^^^es,  laden  with  coal  an. I 
iron,  are  now  replaced  in-  the  graceful  litu>s  of  some 
pleasure   craft. 

Very  recently  have  been  observeil  in  the  local  uews  of 
tlie  county  }i:![)ers  substitutions  for  the  old  naujes  of 
our  handets.  Mei,!_,'sviUe  is  West  \Vest[)ort,  Steven- 
sou's  is  South  Westport,  and  Brainard's  Forge  is  AVest 
Wadhams.  Perhaps  this  is  an  indication  that  the  an- 
cient names  are  passing  aw.iy,  ami  that  untilitv  is  l)e- 
coming  more  to  us  than  nn'incji-y. 

sc'iK X  )i.  1  )isTiuc"rs. 

There  are  eleven  school  di^^tricts  iu  the  town.  The 
most  southern  i^.  at  "Stevetsson's,"  near  the  saw  mill  on 
Mullein  brook.      H-ti-  yr.u  cati  turn  oil  the  "back  road." 


HISTORY  OF  WKSrrORT  2.7 

niul  take  the  "Bald  Peak  road"  to  Minevillo,  fikirtiug 
the.  base  of  the  mountain,  and  with  Mullein  brook  for 
c-onipany  half  the  way.  Tlieu  there  is  the  school  house 
at  "Graeft'e.s,"  alias  the  Westport  Farms,  This  is  the 
ilistrict  that  was  spoken  of  for  many  years  as  "Root's" 
because  Mr.  Samuel  Root  lived  here.  The  school- 
house  stands  (»u  a  hill  overlooking  Coil's  bay,  with  a 
boautiful  view  of  the  lake  and  of  tlic  Yerniont  mount- 
iiins.  North  of  this,  on  the  lake  road,  stands  what 
must  be  the  oldest  school  building  in  town, — the  "stone 
fichool-house."  It  is  built  of  the  limestone  of  the 
neighborhood,  with  Aviadows  let  in  directly  under  the 
eaves,  so  that  no  one  can  look  out  of  them  without 
standing  up,  and  little  folks  not  at  all  unless  they  climb 
upon  the  desks.  Consequently,  you  will  usually  find  the 
door  open  in  summer,  and  can  look  in  sociably  as  you 

]^;iss. 

At  tlie  point  where  the  cross  road  aud  the  back  road 
aud  the  raiivuad  meet  is  the  Howard  school  house. 
Here  come  the  children  "otT  the  mountain,"  two  and 
three  miles  sometimes.  This  school  house,  as  well  as 
the  one  at  Stevenson's,  sees  a  regular  Sunday  gather- 
ing for  religious  services.  Hero  the  meeting  of  adults 
on  that  day  is  larger  than  that  of  the  children  during 
the  week. 

Tlu're  is  a  large  school  house  at  Seventy-five,  which 
had  until  very  recently  a  full  attendance,  but  is  now 
closed.  At  Meigsville  the  school  house  stands  on  the 
Elizabethtown  side  of  the  river,  and  this  is  also  the 
tvjse  ;it  Braijinrd's  Foru;e.     You  will  rind  one  at  Hois- 


•2(j  lusTonv  OF  WESTFuirr 

ington's,  accommoclfitiug  oliildreii  fioiu  four  roails,  uu.) 
about  half  way  to  Elizabftthtown  ou  the  turnpike  is  the 
one  most  likely  to  be  noticed  bv  a  Htrau<^ei.  This  is 
because  it  stands  half  hidden  by  an  immonso  boulder, 
almost  as  liij^di  and  half  as  large  as  the  building.  This 
used  to  be  called  "the  red  school-house,"  but  since  it 
was  rebuilt  with  a  dilierent  e^'e  for  color  we  make  sure 
of  being  understoi)d  by  saying  "the  one  by  the  big  rock." 

At  Wailliam's  Mills  is  a  large  brick  school-house,  ouo 
of  the  oldest  in  town,  often  repaired,  which  the  people 
still  make  use  of,  patiently  waiting  some  turn  of  events 
which  shall  bring  them  a  new  one.  Ou  the  road  to  Whal- 
lonsburgh,  just  over  the  hill  which  rises  south  of  the  riv- 
er, is  the  Ptoyee  district,  now  oftener  referred  to  as  the 
Sherman  district.  On  the  lake  road  to  Whallousburgh, 
where  the  road  divides,  the  oast  branch  ruuniug  direct 
to  Essex  villagJ},  stands  the  "Angier  Hill  school-house." 
The  Angiers  are  long  since  gone,  but  here,  I  am  hai)py 
to  say,  the  old  name  still  hohls  in  spite  of  all  new  com- 
ers. Angier  Hill  itstlf  y.-u  will  tiud  a  half  mile  further 
north.  Standing  at  its  t<>]),  you  look  off  over  the  level 
land  of  the  river  bottoiii  \\\.  Essex,  aud  the  earth  drops 
away  fro'u  before  you  snddenly  in  a  terrace.  This  is 
"Angier  Hill,"  once  a  syncuiyin  for  st(my  steepness,  but 
much  uioilitiod  by  years  of  patitMit  gradiu.--. 

The  School  Ikjusc  in  thn  village  was  built  in  18S9, 
after  such  a  prolonged  and  heated  "school-house  war" 
as  is  often  seen  when  there  are  two  parties  of  opposing 
ojiiniuns,  (udy  on»>  of  which  can  possibly  have  its  way. 
It  is  hard  to  l.i.lb'v-  that  any  spot  could  have  been  bet^ 


llISTOliY  OF  U'ESTI'Oh'T  27 

tt-r  tliaii  tlie  oiio  cliosou,  on  tlio  fiat  near  the  shore  oi 
the  liay.  wlieit'.  the  Imiklitifi;  shows  so  tiiiely  in  the  first 
\  i.'u-  oi  the  villa^'e  from  the  hike. 

All  these  school-houses  are  to  a  certain  extent  social 
centres,  particularly  in  the  remote  districts.  Here  are 
not  only  the  school  exhibitions  but  the  Sunday-schools 
:uul  the  mid-week  prayer  meeting  often  held,  as  well  as 
tilt'  annual  '.'school-meetings"  for  the  electiori  of  trus- 
tees and  ofticers  <if  the  district. 

ci:MP7ri:RiKS. 

\ 

Theeeuieteiies  of  a  town  are  alwaj-s  interesting  places 
to  any  one  who  cares  for  its  history.  There  you  find  a 
<lireetory  of  the  }»dst,  with  blanks  iu  place  of  the  names 
of  those  who  died  among  other  scenes,  or  who  left  no 
one  behiudth^m  wlitJ  cared  to  raise  afttone  to  their  mem- 
ory. Here  djitcs'  are  copious  and  authentic,  and  it 
si-vnis  a  relief  to  walk  these  silent  aisles  after  much  ex- 
pcrif'iu>e  with  the  uncertainty  and  contradiction  of  local 
legendary  history.  Not  that  long  exploration  of  the  le- 
gends will  not  add  to  the  interest  of  loitering  iu  these 
<>ld  grav-eyards.  One  of  the  most  delightful  of  summer 
afternoons  can  l>e  s[>eut  in  wandering  thro'  iho  village 
<'«Miietery  in  c<.mpany  with  the  Oldest  Inhabitant,  and 
and  listi-ning  to  stor^  after  story  suggested  l>y  thu 
JiMiiies  on  the  tombstone. 

The  largest  cemetery  in  town  is  the  one  in  Westport 
village,  on  the  north  bank  of  the  brook,  on  Pleasant  St. 
It  njust  be  almost   as  old  as  the  village  itself,  but   the 


•js         ■       iiisroiiy  Oh-  WKsri'otrr 

earliest  tlate  of  burial  liore  cnf  iu  :>toiie  is  in  the  ye;ir 
1808. 

Here  are  buried  jn;u>y  oi  the  men  coiisiiicuous  iu 
our  history.  Here  lies  "oM  Stjuire  Hatch,"  as  we 
commonly  tall  him,  "Hon.  Charles  Hateh,"  it  reads, 
here,—  witli  a  monumeut  whii-h  was  altop;ether  the 
most  imposiug  one  in  the  cemetery  whenit  was  erected, 
though  somewhat  overshadowed  since. 

There  is  scarcely  an  old  name  which  is  met  with  in  our 
anuals  that  cannot  be  found  here,  and  of  course  one 
cannot  attempt  to  name  tlieiu  ;dl.  Most -of  the  earlier 
•^ravts  are  found  i)i  the  t^astern  end.  Here  is  the 
shaft  ])ut  up  for  ]jarualias  ^lyrick,  who  seems  to 
have  been  the  grevit  man  of  the  villaj^e  after  the  days 
of  Squire  Hatch.  XiMr  it  is  the  grave  of  General 
Daniel  Wrjght,  who  C(-)mmand..'d  all  the  militia  forces 
of  Essex  and  Clinton  counties  iu  the  War  of  181'2,  with 
the  title  of  J'Srigadier-Oeneral.  Fiis  tombstone  relates 
none  .-f  his  deeds  or  distim-tions,  and  his  wife,  whose 
name  was  Patit^jce.  might  be  fancied  to  have  need  (  f  that 
virtue  in  putting  up  with  th«'  fai.'t  that  she  has  no  stone 
of  her  own,  but  is  gi\t'U  a  fmv  lower  lines  on  that  of 
her  iuisliaud.  Perhaps  it  is  going  \^^o  far  to  inuigim^ 
any  one  criticising  one's  own  cpitapli,  or  the  manner  in 
which  it  is  t'iid)l.iZiuied  to  the  world,  butithas  an  odd 
eti'ect  of  making  h.-r  nauie  >fuui  appropria.te.  It  was  a 
very  common  cust   in  in  tin  is-*  days. 

Across  the  grav,-l,-d  path  are  tlu'  H.ilombs.  Doctor 
Diadorus  HolccMub  was  a  very  early  settler,  i\ni\  the 
tlrst  one  who  pra.-tic-d   t!w  healing  art.     He  acted  as  ;i 


Ill  STORY  or  wKsrronr  -jft 

Mir.^eon  fit  the  ]jattle  of  Pbittsltnrj^li.  Not  far  a^\-xiy 
ar-'  th'  j^ravos  of  the  Cnttii)i^s,  conspicuous  in  tlie  vil- 
l.ij^'f  life  a  little  later.  Those  are  some  ot  the  oldest 
names,  most  of  them  on  quaint,  old-fashioned  slabs, 
sMtuetinips  with  the  conventional  weeping  willow  cut  at 
the  to}x  There  are  many  handsome  monuments  of  re- 
cent (l;ite,  like  those  with  the  names  of  Page,  Sargent 
:iiid  Newelh 

One  of  the  most  interesting  graves  in  the  cemetery  is 
that  of  Col.  Francis  L.  Lee,  Colonel  of  the  44th  Massa- 
<-liusetts  Volunteers.  A  shaft  of  stone  in  its  native 
l"/auty,  uncut  and  unpolished,  taken  from  his  own  es- 
tate ;tt  Stony  Sides,  marks  the  spot.  A  tablet  of  slate 
is  h't  in  on  one  side,  with  name  and  date.  A  massive 
hoidder  from  North  Shore  is  laid  at  the  grave  of  Mr. 
^^  illiani  Guy  Hunter,  in  which  are  deeply  cut  his  name 
••iml  that  of  jiis  wife. 

'Jdi.M-e  is  the  giave  of  Joseph  Call,  the  giant,  of  whose 
hats  (,f  strength  so  many  tales  are  told.  Ebenezer 
]>urfee  has  written  on  his  tombstone  that  he  was  a 
Revolutionary  soldier,  the  only  stone  so  marke  '. 
\\oul(]  that  more  old  soldiers  had  left  it  cut  in  stone, 
>n  that  we  might  know  and  honor  them  all. 

A  noticeable  thing  is  tiie  number  of  stones  on  which 
it  is  recorded  that  the  sUent  sleeper  beneath  mot  his 
<h'!ith  by  drowning.  In  former  times  such  an  interest- 
ing tact  as  this  could  not  fail  to  be  engraved  u])ou  the 
I'.ndistone,  witii  the  appropriate  nioral  reflection  thrown 
III.  Of  late  we  are  grown  nu>i'.-  rcNerved,  or  more  in- 
<lifh-)ent,  and  in    the  jifWi-r   part   <'f   tiie   cemetery   the 


•w  tiisroin'  or  w Ksiroirr- 

stones  glow  lari^^er  and  {\w  iiis(n-i|»tir>iis  smulU'r,  ■m\\ 
there  is  no  lonj:];ov  jun-  literatiiieof  tliBilead,  but  uiovelv 
a  cataloj2;ne.  For  iny  part,  I  like  the  old  wav  l>pst.  It 
used  to  1)0  an  art  to  write  an  epitaph,  an<1  to  en^^rave  it 
properly,  an.]  then  it  was  sotaethinj^  worth  while  for 
one  to  read,  walking-  in  the  eenieteiy  of  a  Snndav 
afternoon. 

This  is  the  Protestant  renietery.  That  of  the  Iv oman 
(•atholic  churoh  lies  not  far  wt.st  of  it,  behind  tiie  pret-. 
ty  church,  and  is  full  of  interest.  There  is  auother 
graveyard  in  tlie  villa.-^e,  lu.t  it  is  only  the  (ild  peoi.le. 
who  can  tell  yoa  niiieh  al)'>nt  it,  as  it  has  l)een  lon<^  nn~ 
used.  It  is  spoken  of  as  the  '-South  bnryinj^  ground." 
It  lies  just  northeast  of  the  old  Arsenal,  and  back  ol 
Mrs.  Gregory's  house,  on  land  now  owned  b\-  the  West- 
))ort  Inn.  It  is  a  negleeted  cm-iier,  overj4rown  witli 
briars  and  l)njdoi.-ks  in  tlie  late  snninier.  Here  lie 
Tiliinghast  Cole,  and  some  of  the  Haveuses  and 
Keyuoldsesand  a  nunii)e'r  ofgravt^s  unmarked  bv  stones. 
These  unmarked  graves  are  always  fouml  in  the  old-. 
est  cemeteries,  often  ontnundif-ring  thost;  whose  names 
liave  b ..'en  preseived. 

At  AVadljau)s  Falls  there  is  a  vrry  ])rettv  een)eterv, 
on  the  high  river  bank,  aeio.s.s  th..>  road  from  the  M.  K, 

church.     Hero  are  the  o!  1  lianifs  .tf  this  section,, Felt, 

and  Brauian  ami  Whitney,  Hardy  and  Dunster  and 
Brown  and  Shernian.  Woodrut!"  and  Favn^-  and  manv 
more.  The  earli'st  cem.'trry  at  Wadhanis  was  on  the 
tiat  lower  down  the  riv.-r,  but  was  soon  al)andoned,and 
no  stones   were  l.'ft  t  •  m.trk  fh--  >^»ot,      I'lu;  Wadhanis 


11 J  STORY  OF  WEST  r  OUT  3  J 

family  were  buried  in  a  private  ground  back  of  Com. 
A.  V.  Wadhains'  residence,  but  were  removed  aud 
]>laced  iu  the  lar^^e  cemeter}'  within  a  few  years. 

All  our  cemeteries  are  in  spots  of  natural  beauty. 
At  Merriam's  Forp;e  is  a  small  private  ground,  where 
all  the  Merriauis  lie  buried.  It  is  not  far  from  the 
former  residence  of  William  P.  Merriam,  across  the 
road,  and  on  much  higher  ground,  with  a  fine  view  of 
tlie  river. 

On  the  road  to  Elixabethtown,  near  the  Block  river, 
is  what  the  old  people  call  "the  Newcorab  burying 
ground."  This  has  received  the  remains  of  all  the  old 
families  of  this  region. 

As  old  as  any  of  them  all  must  bo  the  graveyard  at 
Hoisingtou's.  The  earliest  date  is  1805,  at  the  grave 
of  Datus,  sou  of  Euos  aud  Anna  Loveland.  What  a 
dear,  romantic  bit  it. is,  this  little  square  fenced  in 
among  the  mountains !  Here  you  get  no  water  view  at 
all,  only  the  dark  mountains  with  their  folded  valleys, 
])ressing  close  around.  This  lies  on  the  highest  ground 
of  any  of  our  resting  places  for  the  dead,  as  here  it  is 
six  hundred  feet  above  sea  leyel,  with  mountains  tower- 
ing far  above  it.  There  are  very  few  family  names 
represented,  mainly  Lovelauds,  Nichols  and  Sloughters. 
On  the  lake  road  to  Port  Henry  is  a  small  private 
cemetery  on  the  land  of  Hinkley  Coll,  where  all  the 
name.s  are  Coll  by  birth  or  marriage. 

Without  doubt  the  most  ancient  burial  place  in 
town  is  on  the  wooded  point  v.diich  runs  out  north  of 
the   mouth  (f    ivavnio]id    bjook,    clo.so    to    the    island. 


••'-'  iiJsroiiY  OF  WESTPonr 

Very  near  this  spot  was  tlie  first  settlement  of  whito 
men  on  our  soil.  The  oldest  ("late  of  burial  to  be  read 
is  that  of  Levi  Alexander,  181 G,  but  we  know  that 
many  j^'raves  here  must  be  older  than  that.  There  arei 
not  half  a  dozen  atones  now  standing  in  the  little  enclos- 
ure, but  all  around  are  signs  of  a  lar;^'e  cemetery.  Many 
of  the  graves  v>'ere  marked  ouly  witli  that  most  pathetic 
thing  iii  old  graveyarils,~rough,  uuout,  unshaped  and 
unmarked  stones,  selected  from  hillside  or  door  yard  or 
any  where  they  could  be  found.  They  were  set  up 
carefully  at  the  head  and  the  foot  of  the  grave,  many 
of  them  marking  ouly  a  baby's  length  between  them, 
and  for  the  lifetime  of  one  generation  we  may  be  sure 
that  these  graves  were  not  nameless  as  they  now  must 
be  to  us.  These  rou'^h  stones  are  found  in  all  our  old 
cemeteries,  and  indicate  a  time  when  the  stone  cutter 
had  not  yet  reached  the  place,  and  cut  marble  must  be 
brought  long  distances.  Indeed,  many  of  the  stones 
with  the  oldest  dates  were  set  up  years  after  the  body 
lu'neath  was  laid  to  rest. 

We  have  a  right  to  claim  the  cemetHi-y  just  over  the 
line  in  Moriah,  as  it  belonged  to  Westport  until  after 
the  first  generatiou  of  settlers  must  have  been  buried. 


HISTORY  OF  WESrroRT  33 

HO  AIDS. 

To  attempt  a  descriptiou  of  all  the  roads  of  a  town- 
ship would  be  very  tedious.  Only  a  study  of  the  map 
can  give  an  adequate  idea  of  them.  To  a  person  com' 
ing  from  one  of  the  southern  counties  of  New  York, 
where  highways  and  railroads  are  constantly  crossing 
in  a  network,  and  there  is  never  one  house  built  out  of 
sight  of  another,  our  town  looks  like  a  mere  wilderness, 
threaded  here  and  there  with  a  slender,  solitary,  trail, 
often  without  human  habitation  to  pass  for  long  dis- 
tances. To  the  same  person,  coming  direct  from  any 
of  the  "back  towns"  of  the  county,  uam?ly,  North  Hud- 
son,-or  Keeno,  or  North  Elba,  where  an  immense  town- 
ship sometimes  is  traversed  by  a  single  road,  with  one 
or  two  branches,  Westport  seems  thickly  settled,  and 
very  comfortably  supplied  with  roads.  The  highways, 
of  course,  as  in  every  place,  indicate  perfectly  the  needs 
of  the  population  by  their  direction  and  extent,  and 
their   resources    and    enterprise   by    their    condition. 

Taking  the  village  of  Westport  as  a  center,  the  main 
roads  running  from  itare  those  to  Whallonsburgh,  Wad- 
hams  ^ills,  Elizabethtown  and  Port  Henry.  Going  to 
the  first  place,  you  may  take  the  river  road  or  the  lake 
road.  The  river  road  goes  norch  until  it  comes  to  the 
bank  of  the  Boquet,  then  follows  it  closely,  after  cross- 
ing it  near  the  town  line,  into  the  township  of  Essex. 
The  lake  road  takes  you  northeast,  over  many  hills, 
with  beautiful  views  of  lake  and  mountains.  At  the 
top  of  Angiev  Hill  you  look  down  upon    the    valley    of 


:i4  ^     I/JSTOJn'  OF  WE  ST  FORI 

the  Bocjnet.  At  wliat  is  callod  "the  forest  ji^ato,"  after 
yon  pass  through  tho  wonaerful  gateway  in  the  rocks, 
of  such  interest  to  geologists,  a  private  road  leads 
somr;  two  miles  to  Hunter's  Bny,  Partridge  Harbor  and 
Rock  Harbor. 

Tlie  road  to  Wadhams  Mills,  runs  to  the  north- 
west, crossing  the  railroad  and  the  river.  Here  are 
tlie  beautifid  falls  and  the  busy  mills.  If  you  are  very 
lucky  you  may  find  the  river  full  of  logs,  and  a  gang 
of  picturesque  "loggers"  with  red  shirts,  higli  rubber 
boots  and  pike  pedes,  trying  to  break  a  log  jam.  The  river 
road  will  take  you  t(^  Mount  Discovery  and  to  Lewis. 
Thence,  if  you  are  so  min.lod,  you  go  northward  to  the 
place  which  we  call  the  "Poke  o'  Moonshine."  A  road 
to  the  west  goes  to  Brainard's  Forge,  and  there  are 
many  cross  road.s, -11  this  region  of  rolling  farms,  con- 
necting the  nmin  roads. 

li  you  wish  to  go.  to  the  county  seat  you  must  go  to  the 
station  and  then  along  the  oidy  turnpike  in  the  county. 
This  is  the  stage  route  for  the  mountains,  and  altogeth- 
er the  most  constantly  travelled  road  iu  town.  You 
must  stop  at  the  ti)ll-gato  and  pay  toll,  which  you  will 
not  begruilge  when  you-  see  that  your  money  goes  to 
ke^p  the  road  both  smooth  aiul  wide.  Beautiful 
mountain  viows  you  will  tind,  and  when  you  come  to 
the  Black  river  and  cross  tho  bridge,  then  you  have  left 
Westport  and  are  in  Elizabeth  town. 

To  go  to  Piu-t  Henry  you  may  take  either  tho  "back 
road"  or  tiie  lak«^  mad.  The  iir.-,t  follows  the  railroad 
nio.>t  of  the  way,  and  riu;-^  n.'t  f. -a- from    the   high   bank 


iiisToin'  OF  wEsrroiiT  .vo 

xvliicli  imliciites  the  last  slope  of  the  moani.iins  of  tlie 
Iron  Ore  Tract,  iu  their  nearest  approach  to  the  shore 
of  the  lake.  The  lake  road,  (called  a  part  of  the  wa}' 
the  "middle  road,")  runs  parallel  with  the  back  roa<l, 
and  joins  it  just  heyoud  the  town  line,  so  that  yon  are 
obliged,  in  any  case,  if  it  is  your  will  to  go  to  Port 
Henry,  to  cross  Mullein  Brook  and  climb  "Bigelow 
hill"  beyond,  This  brook  was  undoubtedly  named 
after  a  person,  but  at  the  present  day  the  hill  just  south 
of  the  bridge  is  so  covered  with  the  withered,  woolly 
green  of  the  uiiesteemed  mullein  that  one  feels  that' the 
reason  of  the  name  might  uot  be  far  to  seek.  About 
two  miles  from  Port  Henr}-  you  will  pass  through 
"the  Cheever,"  meaning  the  ruins  of  the  mining  village 
which  spraug  up  so  suddenly  iu  the  prosperity  of  the 
great  Cheever  ore  bed,  and  fell  into  ruins  so  deliber- 
ately when  fortune  frowned  upon  the  God  of  Iron. 
You  are  in  what  was  once  Westport  territory  until 
within  two  miles  of  Port  Henry,  although  it  has  be- 
longed to  Moriah  for  fifty  years.        IT'SSO^IS 

From  Holt's  brook  to  the  Ra^'moud  brook  we  call 
this  the  "middle"  or  the  "state  road,"  because  there  is 
a  "lake  road"  farther  to  the  east.  Aud  a  pleasant  road 
it  is,  looking  olY  over  the  tops  of  "the  Cedars"  to  the  lake 
and  the  Vermont  shore.  There  is  a  lane  leading  down 
to  the  NYormau  place  at  Young's  bay,  and  another, 
much  travelled,  to  the  light-house  and  the  ferry  at  Bar- 
ber's point.  A  favorite  short  drive  from  the  village  is 
to  take  this  road  around  to  the  island,  and  then  come 
back  bv  the  middle  r(jad,  or  bv  the  cross  roud  whicii 


.-.v;  .  '        // fS  TO /!  r  OF  1 1  'A'.S' 77 ' 0 /:  T 

cats  tlivougli  the  We.--t[)ort  Fjinus,  and  back  past  the 
gulf  links. 

Other  rijads  less  travelled  have  often  quite  as  much 
interest.  B}'  turning  off  the  turnpike  near  the  station 
von  can  <^o  up  t]io  Letl^e  Hill  rc^ad.  After  you  have 
crossed  the  brook  you  will  never  wonder  at  the  mean- 
ini;-  (if  the  nann\  When  you  cotno  to  the  twin  fish 
ponds  ai  Holsington's  you  may  take  your  choice  of  go- 
ing on  to  3Ieigsville,  and  perhaps  away  off  across  the 
lUack  river  to  "the  Kingdom,"  (peopled  now  only  by 
ghosts  of  the  old  Days  of  Iron,)  or  you  may  turn  and 
go  south  bt'tween  tlie  mountains  until  you  con:ie  to  the 
•Spring  which  supplies  th,e  village  of  Westport  with  wa- 
ter. If  you  eiioose  this  road,  the  first  little  bridge  vou 
cross  is  called,  in  local  talk,  "tea-kettle  bridge."  The 
name  is  tlie  most  valuable  part  of  thelegend,asthe  neigh- 
bors can  (»nly  i<A\  you  that  (^nco,  when  they  mended  the 
bridge  they  found  a  new  tea-kettle  carefully  hidden  un- 
der it,  whose  owner  tlu^s   never  discovered. 

On  this  road  stood,  m^t  many  years  ago,  a  chare ->al 
kiln,  the  last,  poihaps,  of  the  large  number  which  might 
bf  fmmd  all  <»vor  the  town  fifty  yeai-s  ago,  when  there  was 
so  much  more  \voo<l  .to  burn.  It  was  not  far  from 
"tlie  old  tram  ro.ul."  which  l^ads  to  Nichols  Pond,  two 
miles  ^\e^^t  of  the  highv.ay.  This  pond  ks  a  favorite  re- 
sort of  liuntLrs  and  campers,  and  you  can  hardly  pass 
this  way  i)i  the  hunting  srasDU  without  seeing  a  hunter 
V  ith  gun  and  basket,  m  iking  for  iln-  j)(~)nd.  It  lies  four- 
teen iiundicd  fr<(  above  s<-a-h-vt-l,  and  there  is  a  camp 


fUSTORY  OF   WKSTPOirr  37 

.lU  an  islaud.  Another  trail  to  the  poml  loads  in 
from   the  south. 

When  you  couie  to  tlic  turn  at  the  okl  Stacy  place, 
ii.Uas  the  Greeley  place,  now  owned  by  Mr.  Lee,  you 
may  go  back  to  tlie  village,  or  turn  up  the  hill  and  take 
the  mountain  I'oad  to  "Seventv-fivo."  This  ruad  reach- 
es the  highest  altitude  of  any  road  in  town.  After  you 
have  passed  the  "John  Smith  place,"  where  you  «'et 
such  a  charming  glimpse  of  the  lake  through  the  trees, 
looking  down  over  Bessboro,  and  have  climbed  the 
hills  along  the  musical  tumbling  brook,  and  passed  the 
solitary  farm-house  of  Levi  Mojre,  you  come  to  the 
summit  of  the  road,  fifteen  hundred"  feet  above  tide. 
After  this  there  is  a  descent  until  you  reach  the  de- 
serted village  of  "Seventy-five."' 

Surely  a  more  desolate  place  cannot  be  imagined 
than  this  ruinc'd  mining  settlement,  lying  high  up  Lthe 
mountains,  wijere  the  soil  is  thin  aud  poor,  and  where 
the  trees  have, been  cut  ofi' for  miles  around,  burned  to 
feed  the  great  furnace  which  is  now  but  a  heap  (;f 
shapeless  ruiiL  Time  has  veiled  tl^e  naked  hillsides 
with  the  thick,  slender  "second-growth"  timber,  but  the 
village  houses  still  stand  unshielded  upon  the  bare 
slopes.  Most  of  the  houses  were  well-built,  large  and 
comfortable,  and  it  will  take  a  long  time  for  the°chim- 
neys  to  fall  and  the  roof-trees  to  sink.  All  the  popula- 
tion here  ha  I  to  be  fed  by  the  farming  country  of  tin. 
Champlaiu  littoral,  and  farmers  as  far  away  as  Lewis 
and  Essex -drew  hay  and  other  farm  produce  over   the 


•vs-  IffSTOhT  OF  WF.STrORT 

inr.untaius  to  Sovouty-fivo,  receiving  higli  prices  aud  a 
share  in  the  general  ])rosj)evity. 

This  is  the  most  direct  road  to  the  villages  of  Mine- 
ville  and  ^loriah.  If  you  choose  you  may  return  to 
Westport  by  keeping  on  aroiuul  Bartlett  pond,  (in  Mo- 
riah,)  which  lies  so  still  aud  dark,  surrounded  by  the 
still,  dark  mountains,  and  taking  the  Bald  Peak  road, 
through  mountain  valleys,  following  Mullein  brook  to 
the  school  house  at  Stevenson's,  then  the  "back  road" 
to  North-west   Bay. 

The  shortest  way  from  the  village  to  the  Mountain 
Spring  is  to  go  up  the  hill  past  the  golf  links,  cross  the 
railroad  and  take  the  turn  at  Hush  Howard's.  This 
brings  you  to  a  bit  of  new  road  not  shown  ou  the  map, 
because  it  was  made  after  the  map  was  engraved,  which 
exchanges  a  stony  hill  for  an  easy  grade  through  the 
jneadows  for  a  mile,  on  the  land  of  the  Mountain 
S|)ring  Conipauy.  • 

As  for  the  smoothness  of  these  roads — well,  vou  v.-ill 
not  find  them  {ilaned  and  sand-papered.  It  is  evident 
that  in  towns!d|>  the  elevation  of  whose  surface  varies 
froiii  the  level  of  the  lake  to  eighteen  hundred  feet 
al)ove  it,  the  loads  cannot  be  expected  to  maintain  a 
dreary  momttony.  1  am  rt-minded  of  a  story.  Driviuo- 
<.ver  a  uiountain  road  fnuii  lloisington's  to  C4reeley's, 
XNith  a  frit-nd  returned  fjom  South  Dakota,  we  came  to 
"tea-kettle  britlge,"  with  the  little  clear,  brown  stream 
].ouring  aii.l  gurgling  under  it.  "Oh,  stop  the  horse  a 
mom»  lit."  >aid  sii.i.  ";uid  let  me  hear  the  water  run." 
'J"hf  n.uddy  >!uii._:h>  ..f  I,)akot.  do   m.t   look   nor  sound 


niSTORy  OF  WESTPORT  SO 

like  that!"  Aud  thcu  she  told  me  the  story  of  au  Essex 
county  boy  who  took  his  degree  at  a  medical  collep;e  and 
went  west  to  practice  iu  a  prairie  state.  For  years  he 
drove  over  level  roads,  with  a  level  horizon  around  him. 
One  (.lay  he  was  called  to  go  a  long  distance  to  a  place 
he  had  never  seen.  On  Jiis  way  he  saw,  in  a  field  l>y 
the  side  of  the  road,  the  first  rock  that  had  met  his  eyes 
sint  e  he  entered  the  state.  He  left  the  road,  drove  un- 
til he  came  to  the  rock,  aud  then  deliberately  guided 
the  horse  so  that  two  wheels  of  his  buggy  went  directly 
over  it.  He  made  a  turn,  came  back,  and  sent  the 
other  wheels  over  the  rock,  enjoying  the  bounce  aud 
jolt.  Then  he  made  his  way  back  to  the  main  road, 
went  home  and  told  his  wife.  "Oh,  it  felt  good,"  said 
he,  "It  felt  like  Essex  county  once  more!"  And  no 
one  will  deny  that  that  is  the  way  Essex  county  feels, 
when  you  are  driviug,  and  Westport  is  no  exception. 

Nevertheless,  our  roads  are  bettor  than  those  of  many 
other  towns,  and  especially  in  the  fall,  when  our  clay 
packs  into  a  hard  smooth  surf;ice,  only  made  smoother 
by  every  passing  wheel.  It  is  the  spring  mud,  after 
heavy  raius  and  thaws  that  make  our  roads  a  terror 
aud  a  penance.  Our  system  of  workiug  roads  is  ex- 
ceedingly deficient,  resulting  in  a  marked  line  of  divis- 
ion, in  some  cases,  between  a  one  road-district  with  a 
business-like  "path-master"  aud  high  taxes,  and  another 
district  with  a  path-master  ignorant  or  unwilling,  or 
with  taxes   too  low  to  do  half  the  work. 

One  characteristic  feature  of  our  road-sides  is  the 
stump  fence.      This  is   made  of  piue  roots   from   the 


4(^  .  HISTORV  OF  WKSTPORT 

forest  primeval,  left  after  the  trees  were  cut  down,  and 
dug  out  of  the  earth  to  leave  the  laud  clear  for  the 
planting  of  crops.  We  have  an  inveutiou  called  a 
"stnmp-raachiDe,"  made  for  pulling  the  stumps  out  of 
the  ground.  Then  they  are  set  uj)  in  rows  along  the 
b()rders  of  our  fields,  ^vith  the  wide-spreading  "-oots 
joining  in  an  abattis  which  makes  an  escellenr  fence. 
We  have  very  little  of  the  zig-zag  rail  fence  left,  and 
stone  walls  are  not  so  common  as  in  the  southern  part 
of  the  state,  but  a  gray,  mossy,  old  stump  fence,  whose 
gnarled  and  twisted  outlines  take  fantastic  shapes,  fes- 
tooned with  the  woodbine  and  the  wild  grape,  is'  pic- 
turesque indeed. 

There  is  a  folding  road  map  of  Westport,  with  mile 
circles,  easily  obtainable,  ami  also  a  larger  wall  map. 
The  map  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey,  on 
the  scale  of  nearly  one  mile  to  one  inch,  shows  every 
road  perfectly,  to  the  least  turuiu^r,  and  also  indicates 
with  contour  lines  the  elevation  of  every  point.  Be- 
cause of  the  perfection  of  these  maps,  and  their  acces- 
sibility, no  cfl'ort  has  been  made  to  provide  this  book 
with  a  large  and  complete  map.  The  small  one  in  the 
front  of  the  book  will  give  a  quite  sufficient  idea  of  the 
town  and  its  viciuity. 


iiisronY  or  WKsri'iiur  41 

Westi)orl'.s  ouo  sapvejue  claim  to  couskleration  i.-,  in 
tlie  beaut}'  of  her  uatural  foatuit_-s.  MouutaiiiR  aij(.l 
lake  to^'ether  give  this  bit  of  earth  a  chann  which  is 
never  uiifelt  or  deuied.  The  natives,  born  upcMi  tht- 
soil,  always  the  last  to  analyze  the  inlluence  of  nature 
upon  tlioniselves,  arc.  In'  no  means  the  last  to  feel  it, 
}]ow  we  pit}'  the  people  condemned  to  live  jn  a  fiat 
country,  and  what  a  keen  edge  ha»  the  regret  of  the 
e\\\e.  who  leaves  us  t<>  live  upon  the  pr;iiries  of  the 
^^'est !  l')Ut  v/e  would  not  have  it  all  mountains.  "Keene 
Valley  V"  we  say.  "We  could  not  live  shut  in  like  that, 
only  al)le  to  look  up,  and  not  out.  We  never  take  fj 
free  breath  until  v.-e  get  back  wliere  we  can  look  off 
upon  the  lake."  That  is  what  gives  us  the  sense  of 
freedot;i  ajid  distance,  and  I  think  we  love  it  best  of  all. 

K^M/I^S  AN  J  >  ]  UiOOKS. 

Our  largest  river  is  tiie  Bof^piet,  Tijis  beaul.ijui 
mountain  stream  has  its  ultimate  s[!rings  high  iunong 
llie  peaks  of  Keene  and  North  Hudson,  and  follows  a 
jM'rtliea.'^terly  course  tlir(Migli  the  "I'leasant  Valley"  of 
i:"dizalK:t!)t'iwn,  and  into  the,  tou-nships  of  Lewis  and 
.l'Iss(  X.  Theii  it  JK-uds  suddenly  to  (In-  south,  and  makes 
:\  \(io\)  of  tive  or  six  miles  to  enter  Westport.  Here  it 
<-on!<-s  within  three  u;ilr.s  of  the  lake,  and  perhaps  in 
-some  pre-historic  agi;  it  flowed  iut(!  N((rtluvt'st  ]3ay,  hut 
iiow  the  Split  Hock  range  pushes  its  foothills  t(»  tlu- 
--south  and  bars  fbe  w.mv.      Tii'^  New   York    and  C'an;i<h! 


-/-         ,       iiisTiiRY  <iF  \vi:srr()irr 

vailr.j.ul,  iti  {.i.-^siu^  over  tl-is  .livido  between  tl;-: 
Scln-oon  rauo-o  and  the  valley  of  the  Boi|iiet,  makes  tl» 
lieaviest  f^jnule  between  Albany  an.]  Montreal.  This  is 
t!ierta>..n  whyaloa.led  fr,'i^4it  train  is  so  often"stalh'.l"" 
near Viall's  crossing.  Aftrr  leavin--  Westport,  the  river 
flows  thron.gh  Ess-x  aiid  W'illsboro  into  Lake  Cha:n- 
plani.  Some  of  irs  most  remote  sprinj^s  mast  i-)e  nearlv 
thr./.'  (l.ou.^aml  frrt  above  sea  level.  At  Elizabethtown, 
it  is  but  a.  Httl.^  le<s  than  six  hnn-lred  feet  hi,<;-h,  and  at 
its  moutli  it  is  of  course  of  the  san^e  level  as  Lake 
Champlain,one  Imndred  and  one  feet  above  tide.  Such 
a  descent  as  this  proves  it  to  be  a  clear,  swift  running 
river,  with  manv  falls.  Th.'  most  considerable  of  these  is 
at  Wadhams  Mills,  and  -av.jthat  })Iace  its  early  nam--, 
still  often  used,  of  -'The  F.dls." 

Within  our  bnrdt-rs,  the  J]o(]iiet  tlows  for  the  greater 
])art  through  a  tine  faruiing  country,  cleared  and  culti- 
vated, e\ce])t  wh.-re  it  is  crowd'.'d  hy  the  rockv  bas^^  .•)f 
Coon  mountain.  It  is  eross.-d  Ijy  the  ijiilroad,  which 
follows  closely  along  its  northern  l)ank  for  several  miles. 
The  river  is  used  extensively  for  logging.  Logs  are 
<-ut  by  gangs  of  liimberm-m  in  the  forests  of  Elizabeth- 
town  and  Lewis,  and  tloat.-d  down  in  time  of  high  water 
to  the  mdls  at  A\'adha(nv.  or  Whallonsburgh  or  Wills- 
boro.  All  thi>  log.uing  busin. -ss  is  very  interesting  and 
picturesipie,  an  1  ou^  may  pick  \\\\  nniny  a  <|uaint  bit  of 
experionre  out  of  it.  \u  (.Id  farm.M-  who  had  watche  ! 
til.'  river  many  y;u-s  told  me  one  day  that  he  could 
t.dl  at  a  glance  wln-th-'r  the  rive-r  was  rising  or  falling. 
If  t];e  logs  are  :dl  in  th.'  tuiddU'  of  the  river  it  is  falling. 


nisTt)j!Y  OF  WEsrroirr  aa 

If  thoy  are  lloatinp;  ;iloij;j;  upou  caoli  side  next  tlif  l.'aiik> 
tht'  river  is  rising.  Whc-u  tho  wwU-v  is  rismj^  it  is  liigh- 
.,->t  in  the  middle,  and  the  lou;s  take-  the  htwm'  level  next 
the  hauk.  When  it  is  falling  if  is  the  lowest  iu  inid- 
>trean],  aud  (here  the  logs  collect. 

There  are  two  dams  iu  tin;  river  within  We^tjuirt,  cau^ 
id  Wadlianis  and  one  at  Merriatn's  Forge.  The  high- 
way crosses  it  I'ut  t\\"iee.  onee  at  each  of  the  two  places 
jn^t  nientioiied. 

The  uatue  of  the  river  is  coiuniouly  a.  stuiubling- 
lih)ck  to  strangers,  iu  the  matter  of  its  ])ronuuciatiou. 
A  true  ualive  never  calls  it  l)oo-kay,  but  always  bo- 
k\\et.  As  it  is  evideutly  a  Freucii  liame,  the  strauger 
i-  likely  to  set  this  prouuciatiou  down  as  a  result  of 
er.iss  iguttrauce.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  a  most  inter- 
<->tiug  linguistic  proof  ftf  the  real  origin  of  the  name. 
That  sound  of  final  "t"  has  snrvi\ed  for  one  huuilred 
;iud  seventy  years,  aud,  like  most  survivals,  has  an  ^\- 
(^w^-i:  for  being.     ^' 

The  Boqunt  river  was  named  by  tlii.-  Freneh  before 
ITol,  as  is  conclusively  shown  by  mai>s  of  that  date. 
This  [loiut  has  betai  thoroughly  investigated  b\-  Mr. 
Henry  Harmon  Xobh-,  who  ha^  ha<l  every  ojjportunity 
to  examine  the  documents  bt-aring  upon  the  subject  in 
the  State  Historian'.s  otlice.  In  a  letter  written  to  the 
author  he  says  : 

'T  find  in  New  York  Colonial  ^ISS.,  Volume XCVl  11 , 
[•age  ^-i:, '(.'arte  du  Tne  C'hamiilain,  dupuis  le  fort  Cliam- 
bly  ju.s(|uau  fort  St.  Frederic.  Levee  par  le  Sieui 
Anger,  arpeuteur  du  Fioy  en  VC-Vl.  fait  a  (,);ud.ee   le    K' 


-/-/ 


iirsTOin'  OF  WKsrroRT 


Octobve  174S,  siL^no  d.^  Levy.'  That  is  to  say,  a  i;i:ij> 
.)f  Lake  Ohamplaiii  t'r<->iii  Fort  Oliambly  to  Fort  St. 
Irevleiio,  survt'vcil  by  ^h'.  An;j;or,  Surveyor  to  the  Kin;^ 
ill  1782,  m:i.(h^  at  (;>uol)o.>  October  10th,  1748.  On  this 
map  the  river  is  put  i|ov.  ii  as  'li.  Boquette,'  >;ho\viii;^' 
that  it  was  called  by  that  uanif^  as  early  us  173-2. 

"Also  m  r)(KMii!jeiits  Relating  to  the  Colonial  History 
of  the  St;ite  of  New  York,  \ohiniii  0,  opjiosite  ■l)a.L:o 
1022,  is  a  map,  a  eo{)y  of  which  was  procured  in  Paris 
in  IS  12  by  John  Uonnn-n  Brodhead.  On  this  map, 
<late  1731,  'Carre  du  lar  Chainplaiu  avec  le.s  Piivieres 
du[)uis  l.i  fort  'le  Cliam1>ly  d.ius  la  Nouvelle  France, 
jiisipies  a  Oran^eviUe  de  le  Xonvelle  An^leterre,  dresse 
sin-  .livers  lueinoirs,'— it  is  called  I{.  BaiK^inf/e.  The 'a' 
is  quit<3  plain." 

In  a  very  interestinLj  article  n[)ou  the  naming  of  the 
Ansable  river,  in  the  ]:s-„.x  (',),n,ty  Republican,  in  Oc^ 
toh.a-  of  ISOl,  },\i:  Fi,-deri(dv  II.  Cnnstock,  a.  well-know!) 
autln^rity  on  th.-  history  an.l  nonie-nclature  of  this  re- 
i^iun,  sp.riks  .,[  lioth  tic-  ni ^.s  nvMjtioiied  by  Mr.  Xoble, 
and  says : 

-The  French  b.'in;^'  e-^tablisht^d  s<-)  near  the  lake  soon 
familiari/.ed  theiuselves  witji  it,  and  o-ave  names  to 
proniiii'Mit  natural  features  of  its  shores — Uodie  fendre 
.Split  Loek),  Carillon  (  Ticonderoira^,  J^le  La  :Motte. 
Sor.d.  Cha/.v,  St.  Arniant.  iexju-t,  Valcour,  Grand  Isle, 
etc..  many  of  which  remain  even  to  this  day."  And  he 
calls  special  att»-ntion  to  the  fact  that  the  rivers  were 
named  fi'-^m  t!i'-ir  mouths. 


JnsroRY  OF  WKsrruin'  ■/.-, 

So  it  i>  j)him"  that  the  Frciieh  Lad  i^ivt-ii  ouv  river  it> 
i.;iint'  before  tiie^-  l)uilt  the  fir.st  fortitications  ui^on  the 
lakf,  at  Crowij  Point,  in  ITol.  A^  for  the  lueuiiiu--  of 
the  name,  it  seem^  [.robahh'  that  it  whs  derived  from 
tlio  word  "l.oquet,"  that  is  "a  trough,"  from  the  forma- 
tion of  the  river  banks  uear  its  njouth.  The  Frt,-ueh 
nanjed  tlie  \\\  Sable  river,  that  is,  the  Sandy  river, 
from  the  long  poiiit  of  sand  at  its  month,  and  remarked 
tliat  it  was  so  choked  with  saiid  at  its  entrance  into  the 
hdve  that  it  was  impossible  for  boats  to  enter  it  at  all 
exct'pt  in  time  of  high  water.  After  passing  this  river 
mouth,  their  eyes  were  quick  to  notice  tliat  the  next 
one  to  which  they  came,  on  their  southward  way,  was 
of  a  very  difl'ereut  cliaiacter,  liowing  deep  and  full  iut<« 
tlie  lake  through  steep  banks.  There  was  no  obstruc- 
ti!*n  to  the  entrance  of  boats  of  large  size,  and  their 
I'assage  was  clear  almost  to  the  foot  of  the  falls.  It 
viij  be  remombererl  that  Burgoyne  encamped  here  ii: 
1777  because  the  i^ver  afforded  a  shelter  for  his  boats. 
v-ud  in  181-2  it  was  entered  by  British  gun-boats.  So 
the;  French  voyag-eurs  described  it  as  the  "river  which 
is  like  a  trough  at  its  mouth," -Baqnet,  or  Banquette, 
afterward  v/ritten  Bucpiette  or  Boquet. 

It  is  sometimes  asserted  that  our  I'iver  was  named 
after  Colonel  Henry  Bouqut-t,  a  British  oilicer  during 
thr  French  and  Indian  War.  This  is  not  possible, 
>!nce  Colonel  BcMUjuet  nt-ver  saw  America  until  1750. 
tv.enty-five  years  after  the  river  was  named.  Turninu 
to  the  .second  volume  of  ".Miuitcalm  and  Wolfe,"  b\ 
1  lancis  Parkman,  wt-  ma\-  lead  : 


•f'!  f!!ST<)i:y  (,r  w  !:sri'(>irr 

"Tl)t>  11  )y;il  AuH}ric;ui  re^giuicut  \s;is  ;i  iiew  orps 
rui.se.l,  in  tlu^  colouios,  l,ir;^^,-]y  iVotn  uoion;^'  tht-  Genn.-iDs 
of.Peunsylv:iMi:i.  Jfs  ollircrs  w.n'e  from  Enn)])e  ;  an.] 
.•onspicu.Misaimui-ith.^in  \v,-i,sLi<>nttMiant-C«)l(Mi.>l  Henry 
J>.>uqil.'t,  wlio  roiuiiKuulH.l  Olio  of  tlio  four  l.attaliuiis 
of -vvhieh  tlie  re.^iiiKMit  was  eouipos.-d." 

The  o-alhint  Coloiml,  afturwar.l  mailo  a  General  by  ^i 
t^rateful  sov,avi-u,  (hstii.^uisho.l  liiiusolf  in  las  opera- 
tions against  the  Indians  of  l\MHisyIvania  and  Ohio, 
l.utat  no  p,M'i..l  was  he  in  servi.-e  upon  Liko  Chatn- 
phiin.  His  own  h'tters  and  journals,  and  t!ie  records 
of  liis  camiiaio-iis,  p.rov,  this.  There  were  parts  of  th- 
rej^iuient  of  1^ oval  Americans  with  Ahercromliie  in  his 
attempt  upon  Tieondero-a,  and  with  W.dte  at  Quebec, 
i.nit  not  iiompiefs  battalion  in  either  case. 

The  name  of  Bou.piet  was  a  famous  one  in  the  colon, 
i^^s  at  the  time  ..f  the  -..Id  Frei,(di  war"  and  immedi- 
at.dy  after  it.  How  famous  it  was  we  can  hanlly  real- 
ize since  the  :'h.volution  has  li-ht-d  so  many  ^reat-r 
li-Iits.  It  would  hav...  been  in  no  way  stran-e  that  any 
unnamed  river  s!iould  be  named  afl.r  him,  an  1  I  have 
J)o  d<mbt  that  at  this  time  a  miseonc.}[)tion  of  the  facts 
arose.  The  -reat  majority  of  tlie  Kngl-.sh  had  never 
seen  tlie  .)ii-inal  Freueh  maps,  and  were  (|uite  irruorant 
of  the  early  history  of  i!.e  lake.  What  more  natural 
than  for  t!iem  to  >uppos.;  tliat  the  name  "JJa.piet"  nv 
'■l'>o,|uette"  r.-fmed  tot]ieir.)wn  admired  General?  In 
this  way  it  may  be  admitt^^d  that  the  river  was,  in  a 
certain  >en^e.  r-l.apti/..  1  aft-r  ( baanal  Henry  J5ou.p,et, 


JUS  TO  in'  OF  WESTj'ojrj-  -/r 

;i!itl  SO  tho  newe)-  si^ellin^'  au<l  prouuLciatioji  ini-lit  li- 
allowed.  But  youi- true  native  \vill  always  souuJ  that 
t'.nal  '"t"  and  thus  bear  uituess,  oftcu  unconsciously,  of 
that  l.oyalty  to  the  Oldest  which  mahes  so  large  a  part 
K'i  the  liistorical  sense. 

The  river  next  largest  in  size  is  the  Black,  a  tributary 
'  f  the  Boquet.  It  defines  about  live  miles  of  our  west- 
ern border,  the  boundary  line  between  Elizabeth  town 
:ind  "Westijort  following  its  eastern  bank.  It  ris?s  in 
the  southeastern  corner  of  the  township  of  Elizabeth- 
town,  in  Long  F()nd,  which  lies  nearly  sixteen  liundred 
feet  altove  tide.  "Long  Bond"  is  the  name  given  on  all 
the  old  maps,  but  I  see  that  the  latest  Government  sur- 
vey has  changed  it  to  "the  Four  Bonds."  Doubtless 
that  wldeli  was  one  continuous  pond  in  the  early  days 
(•f  thick  forests  and  deej:),  full  streams,  has  now  dwin- 
dled to  tVnir  small  ponds  connected  by  slender  brooks. 
From  Jjong  Bond  runs  Brandy  Brook,  falling  over  live 
iiUndreil  feet  in  iess  than  two  miles,  into  Black  Bond, 
which  is  connnonly  given  its  modern  title  of  Lincoln 
Bond.  Black*Bond  was  named,  like  the  Black  river, 
from  the  color  of  its  water,  derived  from  tlie  iron  in  the 
^oll.  Fron)  Black  Bond  the  river  runs  north-east,  and 
all  ahmg  its  course  yon  may  find  its  banks  dotted  with 
the  ruins  of  mills  and  forges. 

At  "the  Kingdom"  lies  the  most  memorable  ruin,  ri- 
valing the  mournful  intt-rest  of  "Seventy-five."  I  have 
always  wished  some  one  would  tell  me  why  a  soulless 
co!-p,, ration  ever  chose  tin.'  nanie  of  "the  Kingd'jm  Irou 
<  Mc  CoiiiiKUiy."     Was  it  ^^•lth  a   bounding   hi'pe  for  the 


-^'^'  HiSTom'  OF  \\'i:sTi'<)irr 

future  liko'tli.it  o\|)ies.secl  bv  tlio  soulhoni  negroes  in 
tjioir  sioijg  of  "Kijigdoni  Come?"  At  any  rate,  tljc  nau)e 
is  all  tliat  is  loft  to  remark  u])on  now,  and  as  even  tliat. 
does  not  belong  to  Westport,  we  must  Ijuiry  on  down 
the  river.  ^ 

It  is  .^ix  Inin(]red  feet  above  sea   level    at  Meigsville, 

and  four  hundred  fyet  above  it  at  its  junction   with  tlic 

Boquet  in  Lewis.     It  has  a  deseeist    from    Black    Pond 

to  the  Boijuet  of  six  iiundred  and  tirty  feet.     It  Avill  be 

seen  that  with  this  fall,  and  witli    the   volume  of   water 

herein  early  days,  the  stre.tm  was  of  great  value  to  the 

first  settlers,  and  as  long  as  there  was  u  demand  for  the 

products  of  milb  and  forges.     To-day  there  is  but  one 

mill  running  along  all  itscourse,— theone  at  Brainard's 

Forge,— but,  alas,  for  the  ancient  pride  of  the  river,  the 

•saw  is  driven  by  steam  I  A  luindred  years  ago  the  river 

ran  with  full  b,-inks,  dee^.   .-ind   still,   all    the   year,   but 

now  in  sumuier  it   d.wii.d!i-s  to   a  thin    stream,    spread 

over  a  pebbly  b.ed.     The  w;.ter  i>^  u,n   dow   noticeably 

dark,    exeepi'as  it   runs  ovt-r  atones   whieh    sh..w    the 

ooha-iug  of  b-on  ore.      I    suppose    that    when    the   first 

.settlers  saw  it,  it  had  something  of  the  inky   blackness 

of  the  AuSabhi  river  in  the  Chasm,  Hashing  into  white 

:it  tln>  falls  and  rapi^ls. 

Four  bridges  (-ross  the  lUaek  rivei  frou)  one  town-^ 
ship  to  the  (ither. 

The  small  str.'ams  entirelv  within  the  tov/nship  are 
numerous.  There  are  at  least  five  flowing  into  the  Bo- 
tpiet,  and  as  many  into  the  Black  river.  In  the  centei- 
oi;th-town,liMwi.,-i„!.u/A.  :XnrthwestBav,and.ros-;ed 


ifisroiiY  uF  wKsrroirr  -/.v 

iir-ar  its  inoutli  by  the  biiili^o  in  the  village,  is  Hoising- 
t< Ill's  brook,  n;iuied  iifter  au  earl}'  settlor.  In  strict 
justice  it  shonUl  be  called  the  Lovelancl  brook,  us  the 
Lovthuids  jtrecedecl  the  Hoisiugtons  on  the  farm  near 
its  source,  but  strict  justice  does  not  always  prevail  in 
the  names  of  plat'es.  In  some  cases  our  local  names 
uo  back  to  the  earliest  comers,  and  generation  after 
L'l'nfratioii  makes  no  effort  to  change  them,  thus  pre- 
srrving  a  record  of  early  history,  and  pr:;ventiug  all 
further  confusion.  There  is  something  pleasant  in  the 
tiiought  of  thus  honoring  the  fii-st  settlers,  who 
siw  the  country  when  it  was  new,  cut  the  first  trees, 
jtloued  tlK^  first  furrow,  and  did  so  much  to  make  it  • 
h.ibitable  for  us  who  were  to  come  after  them.  Not  that 
1  am  mnrmiiring  that  Hoisiugton  brook  should  be  so 
railed.  It  is  a  good  old  name,  and  that  the  two  fish 
ponds  date  back  only  to  the  day  of  the  Hoisingtons  is 
>^ut1it'ient  re;\son  for  naniing  the  v.hole  brook  after 
thv-m.  lly  the  roadside,  near  the  bridge  at  Hois- 
ington's.  tlie  travidler  can  see  two  pretty  little  ponds, 
one  emptying  into  the  othei",  and  the  outlet  falling  into 
the  brool;.  The  sources  (^f  the  brook  are  much  higher 
in  the  mountains.  This  stream  was  called  Mill  }3rook 
by  the  tirst  settlers  at  Northwest  Bay. 

1  laiumoHcI  Iji'ooJv. 

The  Iloisington  bro.-k  is  joined,  not  far   back   of   the 
vilhige,  by  another  stream  coming  from  the  south-west,  I 

calh.'d  the  Uamu)oiid  brook.     This  stream  has   for  one 
<if  its  soiirc.'s  the  M.oinitain  Spring,  which  supplies  the  I 


-">(>  II I  STORY  OF  WFsrroirr 

village  with  water.  Of  Into  yorus  it  is  sometimes  spok- 
en of  as  the  Pooler  1. rook,  but  tht'  old  name  is  mucli 
ofteiler  used,  and  is  far  more  np])r(ipriate.  Xathan 
Han)mond  settled  ]\cre  nc.t  lonp;  ;ifter  ISOO,  and  his  son 
Gideon,  also  a'dv.eller  by  the  brook,  was  a  prominent 
mnn  in  our  history,  bfing  supervisor  of  the  town  for 
years,  and  going  to  Alliany  to  rcpn-sent  the  couiitv  in 
the  Assembly.  They  are  all  gone,  long  since,  but  the 
ijame  is  still  used. 

On  the  map  (;f  tlie  United  States  Geological  Survey, 
though  it  is  quite  con-eet  so  far  as  the  natural 
aspect  of  the  country  is  concerned,  our  Hoisington 
brook  is  miscalled  the  "Hammond  brook,"  while  tht^ 
true  Hammond  brouk  is  given  n(.)  name  at  all. 

Ofren  a  stream  is  known  by  ditferent  names  at  dif- 
ferent i^oints  along  its  o<un-se.  Up  in  the  mountains, 
wliere  Josej)!!  Stacy,  one  of  the  first  settlers,  owned 
l.'.rge  tracts  of  lan.l.  you  v.ill  hear  of  "the  Stacv  brook." 
Near  its  mouth,  whtre  it  falls  into  Coil's  bar,  you  will 
hear  it  called  "ColTs  l.>rook."  But  there  is  still  anoth- 
er name.  Nothing  in  all  my  stinly  of  our  town  historv 
has  (h'lighted  m.-  nu.re  than  to  lind  this  l>rook  referred 
to,  in  the  tomnii'ii  spet-i'h  of  thtj  ne-ighborhood,  as  "the 
llaymond  brook."  This  is  the  ohiest  survival  of  no- 
njenclature  th.it  [  have  iliscovered.  It  dates  back  to 
that  first  of  all  first  settlers,  Etlwurd  Raymond,  who 
came  here  in  177i>,  and  formed  a  small  settlement  at 
the  mouth  of  tlie  bi^.;-!..      Janu-s  \\ .  C'oH   cauje    to   thi> 


iiisrouv  or  WKS'i I'Ojir  .:/ 

\iriiiity  in  ISdS,  ami  I  l)e;ivel  his  f^ramlsoii,  uitliout  <>\\'j^- 
'u^si'nm  or  preiiUMHtation,  refer  to  this  as  "tlir^  Jtayinoihl 
hroi)k,"  thus  showing  that  tiiis  was  the  accepted  name 
ill  the  family.  Srii>>ly  we  eaunot  ilo  better  than  to  keep 
this  up.  The  hipd  in  this  vicinity  may  change  hands 
as  many  times  in  the  next  quarter  century  as  it  has  in 
the  L-ist,  but  it  is  to  he  ho[)eil  that  the  lit  ilo  river  mav 
never  lose  thu  name  ot  Jhiyjuoml.  Tli,'  name  of  tlio 
original  Coll  is  perhaps  sntlieiently  honoied  bv  giving 
liis  uame  to  the  bav. 

The  Raymond  Ijrook,  then,  is  our  longest  stream, 
with  its  liighest  sour(;e  prob.ibly  tifteen  hundred  fe^^t 
above  tide,  in  tlie  mountains  near  the  Kiizabetlitown 
\'n\f\  On  my  map  it  is  made  to  rise  in  Xiehols  p(md, 
but  I  am  told  that  this  is  a  mistake,  and  that  the  out- 
h-t  of  the  pond  is  toward  the  west.  It  is  a  beautiful, 
clear  niountain  strenm,  vitli  man.y  a  little  fall  and  cas- 
cade, and  still  pools  full  of  trout.  It  nndces  a  most 
niusical  eomj)anion  on  tlu^  ro.-ul  to  Sevetdv-liv*',  and  it 
is  a  eiuiNiilr-iabU-  stream  where  it  tlov,s  undrr  the  high- 
way near  A\'illianj  Floyd's.  When  it  has  come  in  sight 
of  the  lake,  and  Hows  under  the  bridge  near  the  CTruett'e 
resilience,  it  leaps  over  a  steep  ledge  of  rocks  in  one 
f-.-'aming  sheet.  Above  the  fall  is  the  jiool  where  half 
tiie  town,  in  ancient  times,  used  to  come  to  wash  their 
shee[i. 

Mullciii  Ih-oolv. 

On  Sauthinr's  ma[>,  maile  1779,  of  the  lake  there  are 
two  of  our  streams  [uit  down, —  Hoisingtou  and  Mullein 


'^■2  niSToin'  OF  wi:sTp(>irr 

bro(/ks.  Only  cue  is  f^iven  a  ii.iiiit',  find  that  tliu  hitter, 
v'hioh  is  called  ''Iron  or  Beaver  Cr."  Ou  the  map  of 
the  Irou  Ore  Tract,  made  ISIO,  it  is  called  "Uever 
Creek,"  so  that  it  is  plain  that  this  was  its  early  name, 
unchanged  for  the  time  of  one '/enei'ation.  ("13ever"  is 
not  a  misspelling  of  "J.)ea\er,"  but  the  same  word  in 
the  Dutch  language.  Albany,  you  remember,  was 
calind   I)y   the  Dutch  "Beveruyck."; 

In  thoold  town  records,  in  ISb"),  it  is  spoken  of  as 
"MoUins  brook,"  and  afterward  as  "Mullens"  aiid 
"Mullin"  lirook,  as  though  a  man  by  that  name  lived 
near  it,  which  was  ])erhaps  the  case.  It  is  well-known 
that  the  heroine  of  Longfellow's  "Courtship  of  Miles 
StanJish"  was  namrd  Briscilla  Mullen.  Possibly  a  de- 
scendant of  the  family  of  arch  and  io\ely  wife  of  John 
Aldeu  settled  in  early  days  ujion  this  rushing  mountain 
torrent.  It  is  an  odd  coincidence  that  there  is  a  liill- 
side,  just  wliere  the  highway  crosses  t!iis  brook,  vs-hieh 
1  have  always  stt-n  covered  with  the  atifl',  untidy, 
]>overty-sti-ickeij  haves  and  stalks  of  the  common  mul- 
lein, and  I  had  b.'H.'Ved  from  childhood  that  this  hill- 
side gave  its  name  to  \.\\i-  stream.  Later  years  brouhgt 
the  retltH'tion  that  ii  was  likely  to  have  been  named 
l)efore  the  forest  was  cut  frojn  that  liill,  and  now  I 
cherish  an  original  thfory  of  my  own.  Near  the  end 
of  th(>  Frt-ncli  and  Indian  war,  one  of  the  men  of  Bobert 
Bogers,  tiie  Bang.-r,  was  sent  on  a  dangerous  and  dar- 
ing orraml  up  this  sid.-  of  the  lake, fiom  Canada  to  Lake 
George.  His  nam.'  wns  Lieutenant  Patrick  McM alien, 
»ntl  1   ilk.-  to  b.-ii-,ve  that   he   had  some  romantic  ad- 


iiisToin-  or  wusri'mrr  r>:i 

vj'Hturo  near  this   stream   whieii  causei]  it  to  be  ealloMl 
after  his  iianio. 

It  risfs  hi^h  in  tlie  Iron  Ore  Tract,  probably  thir- 
t.ieii  huii(b-(M]  feet  aliove  sea  level,  aiul  tlows  down  the 
sivle  of  Bald  Peak  with  a  swift,  tumblirtf^  current.  In 
tile  early  days  it  l^ad  strength  to  ran  a  mill  at  "Steven- 
^')u's,"  but  now  it  can  be  used  only  a  little  wliile  in  the 
r-]'ring  fiood.s.  From  the  mill  it  dro])s  iuto  a  deep, 
ilark  J'avine,  at  the  steep  foot  of  Bald  Peak.  Between 
this  ravine  and  the  r<">ad  lies  the  litth;  cemetery,  with 
its  wiile  outlook  over  the  lake  and  Vermont  to  the 
s.iutli,  and  the  <i:loomy  mountain  risino;  hi^^h  behind  it, 
a  most  picturesque  and  lonely  spot.  The  brook  is 
crossed  by  the  highway  and  the  railroad  near  its  moutli. 
From  the  highway  bridge  you  can  catch  the  prettiest 
glimpse  of  the  water  of  the  lake,  framed  in  by  the  arch 
of  the  culvert  under  the  railroad.  The  little  valley  is 
very  dtn-p,  and  the  "fiH"  of  the  railroad  very  high  and 
d.-ingerous.  Eugiueers  know  that  the  embankment  here 
is  treacherous,  and  nevei'  to  be  trusted  after  a  heavy 
ruin. 

1)<  'avei-  ]>r<)ok. 

South  of  Raymond  brook  is  a  stream  comparatively 
short,  an<l  with  many  tributaries,  called  on  the  Govern- 
nuiut  ma])  of  ISOG  "Beaver  Brook."  It  rises  in  the 
hills  west  of  the  "back  road,"  anil  tlows  iuto  Presbrey's 
bay  at  the  stone  bridge,  on  the  lake  road.  One  branch 
"f  it  comes  down  the  hillside  back  of  Oren  Howard's  in 
a  pretty  fall,  and  runs  unJer  the  giv-at  till  in  the  rail- 
roitil   thcrt-.     Another    branch   su[»})licd   the    water    f.ir 


o-f  lusTouY  OF  wKsrroirr 

tl,e  resevAoiv  Avlioie  tlie  locomotives  ^^'atel•pJ  on  tlio 
switch,  l)cfore  the  l.-ir^c  resrvwir  w;i.s  huilt  at  tho  sta- 
tion anil  su|'p!itnl  !>y  the  IMonntain,  l^[>iing.  There  is  a 
ford  at  the  mouth  of  tliis  lu'ook,  and  whrn  tlie  biid-e 
was  \\\)  for  re}>airs.  a  number  of  years  ago,  people  who 
liad  not  l)een^foVfwarned  to  oo  by  the  back  road  would 
souietimt's  drive  thron<;h  the  shallow  waters  of  the  bav 
to  reach  the  Vviad  on  the  other  side  aoain.  After  an 
east  wind  has  been  blowing,  you  w'lW  find  the  ^ater 
under  the  stcjue  bridge  running  wyi  stream,  from  the 
lake  iuto  the  brook. 

This  brook  is  not  shown  in  the  large  atlas  of  1S7G, 
which  is  a  strange  oversight  fur  so  accurate  a  work. 
On  the  Ciovernment  map  ol  IS'Jl]  the  bay  into  which  it 
iiows  is  called  '"Mullen  Day,"  which  is  manifestly 
wrtnig,  ami  will,  1  have  been  assured,  be  corrected  in 
the  next  editimi. 

'i'here  is  anotiiei-  ]n  aver  l^rook  in  the  northern  j>art 
(>f  the  tow  nship.  it  rises  on  the  western  slope  of  the 
Split  ]b)el;  range,  ami  Iimws  ni)rth  through  the  Mather 
and  \Yhallon  f  irins  into  the  Boquet  river,  in  Essex. 
The  name  is  a  cumnn.n  one,  and  indicates  that  the  first 
settlers  found,  the  b-'aveis  and  their  dams  in  great  num- 
ber on  thes^'  streams.  And  now  I  sujipose  there  is  not 
one  V)eaver  h  ft  for  thi^  generation  to  kill. 

^lany  litth-  str.-.im^  itow  into  the  lake  all  along  the 
shoi-e, -ome  of  them  div  a  p.art  of  the  year.  "Hc-lfs 
bn.ok"  w;i>  formerly  'Tb.gers's  brook"  and  is  crossed  by 
two  bridg.-s  near  the  ^Uau^  house  at  the  folk  of  the 
ro.els.      J!  run-- tho'nuli  tiic  i-ed.ar  v.(.;)ds    into    a   sandv 


insroin'  of  ]vi:srr(jin'  .^.5 

i>iv,  aii'l  ;it  its  month  was  an  eucainpnu-nt  of  Imlian.-i 
v.lion  Hozekiali  Barber  came  here  in  1785.  A  httl-3 
-tivam  .sets  ifi  to  the  head  of  Sisco  Bay,  rniniinp;  thron5:;h 
!i  ih'ep  \v.)iuhMl  nivine  after  it  crosses  the  ruad  on  Mrs. 
L.'i-'s  land.  Another,  near  Hunter's  Bay,  makes  its 
^U•nder  way  dowiK  tlie  sid--  of  the  monutain  and  runs 
i!!to  the  hdie  across  a  Hat,  bare  rock,  sanK)tlied  by  the 
action  of  water  and  ice  for  ages. 

Wht'U  ohl  |ieo])Ie  have  talked  to  me.  of  the  streams 
•  if  onr  town  as  tliey  knew  them  in  their  youth,  they 
iiave  always  striven  to  iuj})ress  me  with  the  fact  that 
ail  this  country  was  fur  better  watered  then  than  it  is' 
now.  Some  short  streams  have  entirely  disappeared, 
Mrs.  Harriot  Sheldon,  dau-liter  of  fdezeklah  Barber, 
has  told  me  of  a  brook  which  in  her  girllnjod's  days 
van  into  tlie  head  of  Young's  bay,  of  volume  sutlicient 
to  run  a  spinniup;  wheel  which  had  been  made  to  work 
by  water  power.  It  is  known  in  the  family  now  as  ''the 
spinnin,^^  wheol  place."  And  Mrs.  William  Bichards, 
dauj^hter  of  Ira  Henderson,  has  "told  me  hosv  high  the 
water  nsed  to  come  np  behind  her  father's  honse,  cov- 
ering all  the  marsh  iH  the  mouth  of  the  bi-ook,  so  that 
hi.-;  l)oat:-.  came  to  the  foot  of  his  garden  to  load  and  un- 
load tlieir  freight.     Old  boatmen  will  tell  vou  the  same. 


MOrNTAlXS. 

r)f  niMiiiiiains  surely  we  have  g<jod  st(jre,  but  of  single 
peaks  with  a  distinctive  history  hardly  cuie.  I'lirough 
tli"  centre  of  the  t'jwnship  lies  a  v.illey   of    irregular 


.    oo  jusroin'  of  westpojit 

sbaj.e,  rLiniiiuo-  back  to  the  uortliwest,  from  tlie  lake  t<. 
the  ]Mack  and  Boquet  iiv.,.rs.     TJiis  valley  is  widest  on 
the  lake  front,  and    extends   from   Head  lands  on   the 
north    to  .the    southern   extremity    of   Bessboro.       It 
contains    all     the    tillable    land    of    the    township,  of 
^vhic•h    the  most    valuable    are    those  of  the   southern 
lake  front   and  the  rich   bottom   lands  of  the    Boquet. 
The  few  farn^s  between  Coon   mountain  and  the   Split 
Rock  ranoe,   in   the  valh-y    of    the   Boquet,  should   be 
added  to  this  area.     All  the  rost  of  the  town  is   rou-h 
wouutaiuous  country,  covered  with   timber,    with  "  here 
and  there  a  high,  sandy  farm,  cleared  when  tJ.e  countrv 
was  new,  whose  light  soil  is  easily  cultivated,  but  ].ow- 
erless  to  make  rich  returns.      We  may  be  said  to  have 
two  mountain  systems,  although  when  the  Adirondacks 
are  viewed  as  awhole,  both  belong  to  the  Schroon  ran-e, 
Avhich  extends  from  Schroon  Lak^'  t(^  Split  Bock.     IMie 
mountains  to  the  south-west  of  onr  fiaiitful  and  inhab- 
ited valley  we  call  the  Bon  Oiv   Tract.       Tiio.se    to   the 
liorthe.ust  we  call  the  Snlit  Bock  range. 

The  valley  mentioned  lends  a  beaudful  variety  to  the 
sky  line  as  s.ef,  from  the  lake,  as  it  slopes  upward  from 
the  head  of  the  b.y,  wh-re  the  village  lies,  back  to  th.- 
lii-hlands  of  Bli/:d.u.thtown,  .bviding  the  dark  mass  of 
bills  which  lor.n  tin.  Jron  On-  Tract  fron.  th,-  ru-^ed 
spursoftheSplitno.k  range,  pushing  boldly  intoU.e 
lake.  Through  the  gap  are  se.n,  sketclu^d  in  the  el.ar 
fine  blue  of  mountain  distances,  the  outlines  of  Mount 
Ilurncan.  and  t!u.  .By   peaks.     Against   a   sunsU  ^kv 


jnsTom'  OF  ]yj:sTPO]iT  nj 

:ii)il  roflected  in  tlit*  still  water  of  the  bay,  it  is  a  si^lii; 
t.,  lio  tliiiiikful  for. 

The  hipjliost  mouutain  in  town  has  no  name,  of  its 
own.  It  lies  in  the  south-west  corner  of  the  town,  and 
i>  nineteen  hundred  feet  hi<^h.  It  is  between  Stacy  and 
MuIUmu  brooks,  and  its  summit  may  be  pointed  out  as 
the  one  next  north  of  that  of  Bald  Peak.  Between  it  and 
I'.ald  Peak  lies  the  high  valley  through  which  passes  the 
'•Bald  Peak  road." 

The  Schroou  range  attains  its  highest  elavatiou  in 
Bald  Peak,  which  rises  two  thousand  and  sixty-five  feet 
above  tide.  It  is  now  in  Moriah,  though  it  belonged 
to  ancient  "\Vestport.  Seen  from  the  lake  road,  nearj 
tii^  cv-nietery,  it  seems  a  noble  height,  rugged  and  grand. 
It  is  easily  ascended  from  Mineville,  on  its  western 
slope.  Its  summit  was  an  important  point  in  the  meas- 
urement of  distances  in  the  Adirondack  Survey  of  Ver- 
plauck  Colvin,  as  you  may  read  in  his  report.  Upon 
the  map  of  the  Gc()l(;gical  Survey  of  1S92,  (edition  of 
Is'.iN,  it  is  named  "Bald  Knob"  instead  of  Bald  Peak. 
This  is,  I  think,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  "Bald  Peak" 
of  Elizabethtown*  which  is  nearly  a  thonsand  feet 
higher.  The  change  of  name  is  a  very  reasonable 
fnu^,  and  my  mind  was  fain  to  further  it,  but  I  have 
f'Hind  local  usage  so  persistent  that  I  have  subsided  fronr 
the  reformer  to  the  mere  unreasoning  chronicler. 

The  people  who  live  nearest  neighbors  to  the  mount- 
ains have  names  for  all  the  heights,  like  the  Harper 
mountain,  (named  after  a  family  who  lived  at  its  foc>t 
i.'i  L-arly   times,)   thy   Xichols    Poud    niountaius,  etc.      I. 


o.y  ni^Toiiv  OF  wKSTi'oirr 

believe  tlie  hei\u,!it  back  of  the  old  Broiul'V  place,  wLeie 
William  Smitii  now  lives,  is  called  the  Bromley  luount- 
aiu.  It  is  over  a  thousand  I'ef^t  high,  aud  eveu  from  the 
foot  of  it,  whero  tlie  house  stands,  a  remarkable  view  is 
obtained,  looking  o\er  the  vSplit  Eock  range  down  the 
lake.  At  the  top  it  must  be  magnificent.  The  mount- 
ain back  of  Xichols  pond,  v.diere  the  iron  mines  are,  is 
Campbell  mountain,  named,  ivom  an  early  owner  ijf 
the  ore  beds. 

The  8plit  Hock  range  forms  one  continuous  mass 
from  Headlands  to  Split  Piock,  penetrated  by  but  one 
carriage  roail,  in  the  whole  distance  the  one  going  in  to 
Hock  Harbor.  There  area  naml)er  of  well  worn  tia  Is 
across  the  mountidns,  following  the  valleys,  and  the 
heights  are  by  no  means  inaccessible.  The  highest 
point  is  (.)ne  thousand  aud  thirty-tive  feet,  aud  is  called 
Cirand  View.  Tt  vises  almost  sheer  from  the  waters 
of  the  lake.  This  is  tlje  m(nintain  which  frowns  upon 
you  as  you  enjerge  form  the  mout.h  of  Otter  Creek,  dark 
uilh  its  iron  rocks  anil  its  evergreen  trees,  and  with  the 
buildings  of'  the  old  Iron  Ore  Bed  works  clinging  to  a 
narrow  shelf  half  way  up  the  side. 

A  spur  of  the  S[)lit  Hock  range  to  the  westward,  its 
base  washed  by  the  Doijuet  Biiver,  is  Coon  njountuin. 
lis  name  is  desciiptive  even  now,  us  it  is  not  at  all  un- 
common for  a  raccoon  to  be  killed  within  its  shadow. 
■Its  l)eight  is  luu;  thousan^l  and  tifteen  feet.  Standing 
on  the  ramparts  of  Crown  Point  fort,  you  may  see  its 
scalloped  outlin.'s  against  the  sky,  and  it  is  a  well- 
knov.  n  l.ti;d!a;ok  n[>  and  .lown  the  lake. 


uisToin'  OF  wHsrroirr  oft 

jioral  Diinies  nvc  Ilig£,niisou's  ;iiul  Lop's  inomitjuns, 
niul  ^ileilin's  Penk,  a  fanciful  luiine  for  u  liill  near  the 
ro:ul,  on  the  \vest  of  the  Split  Hock  range. 


PONDS. 


Xi.-holH  l\>ii(l, 


Our  })onds  cannot  be  said  to  be  nnnierous  when  one 
considers  that  we  are  reckoned  as  belonging  to  the 
.-Vdirondack  country.  All  that  we  have  lie  within  the 
Iron  Ore  Tract.  The  largest  is  Nichols  pond,  lying 
\\ill  back  in  the. mountains,  not  far  from  the  town  line. 
("liack,"  in  our  parlance,  may  always  be  understood  to 
man  '"toward  the  west,"  or  "away  from  the  lake.")  It 
li--s  fourteen  hundred  feet  above  sea  level,  and  is  sar- 
i*-unded  bv  high  forest-clad  mountains.  It  is  less 
than  a  mile  in  length,  and  has  twc>  islands.  u{>(>n 
one  of  which  is  a  peiiuauent  cnai[).  No  highway  runs 
i.t  ar  it,  but  it  is  reache'l  by  two  trails,  one  from  the 
•  ast,  the  other  from  the  south,  each  about  two  miles 
long.  If  you  go  in -from  the  east,  you  will  leave  the 
liighway  near  Ed.  McMahon's,  not  far  from  the  |)lace 
vJiere  the  charcoal  kiln  stood  for  so  many  years,  and 
follow  up  the  track  of  the  old  tra!n  road,  which  will 
l>-ad  you  direct  to  the  ])ond.  This  tram  rc^ad  was  built 
lo  carry  ore  from  the  mines  to  the  highway,  but 
was  never  finished.  You  will  find  the  ruins 
of  the  separator  which  scfvarated  the  ore  after  it  was 
rai>rd  from  the  miue,neai  the  nortii-yrn  end  of  tlu'pond. 


,r.(>  1/ /STOAT  or  WFsrroirr 

The  ovigiual  Juhu  Nichols,  after  wlioui  tlie  poud  was 
iiaDied,  lived  whore  Ed.  McOIahon  now  docs.  He  came 
iii  sometime  daring  the  tirst  decade  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  and  now  lies  buried,  with  others  of  the  same 
name  and  race,  in  tlie  Hoisingtou  cemetery.  Within 
the  past  few  years  I  liave  heard  some  peop'e  who  were 
not  acquainted  witl)  the  iiistory  (^f  this  region  call  the 
poud  "Nicholas  pond,"  an  error  caused  by  a  misunder- 
standiiJg  of  the  name.  The  earliest  name  given  it  was 
"Spring  Pond,"  as  is  shown  on  the  nicip  of  the  Iron  Ore 
I'ract,  made  in  1810.  This  name  is  very  appropriate, 
as  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  poud  is  fed  main'y  by 
springs  iu  the  bottom.  There  are  but  a  few  small  in- 
lets, quite  iusuflii'ieLt  to  maintain  such  a  body  of  water. 
The  outlet  according  to  the  latest  Government  survev, 
is  through  Cohl  Brook,  flowing  from  the  southern  end 
of  the  [)onvl,  westward  U)  theJilack  river.  On  the  Piatt 
Pogers  map  of  178.3  the  Stacy  brook  is  made  to  rise  in 
two  ponds  not  far  ai^ar^,  and  of  nearly  the  same  size,  one 
of  which  is  no  doulit  intendi-d  [(»•  our  Nichols  ])on<i. 
That  part  of  the  map  was  not  based  on  actual  survev, 
and  is  maiilfcstly  int^xact.  On  the  niap  of  the  Imn 
Oie  Tract  it  i>  im[u.ssil'.lf  to  tind  the  outlet,  as  the  pa- 
per was  folded  across  the  pond,  and  has  worn  entirely 
away  in  the  creases.  A  gentleman  who  camped  fm- 
.several  summers  at  the  pond  has  assureil  me  that  the 
Government  survey  is  right,  and  the  older  ma])s  wrong. 
The  trail  to  the  jioutl  from  the  south  gees  in  from  the 
road  to  SL'Veiity-livM,  a  little  way  east  of  Levi   Moore's. 


msroiiv  OF  wicsrroirr  r>i 

'I'liis  wav  it  is  ]i(i!^sil)lo  tf>  drive  in  witli  a  loaded  tfani. 
11. .ill  tlipso  (rails  you  ^ill  find  well  worn,  as  tliey  are 
u.-(  il  w  ^roat  deal  all  tluougli  t1i(^  season,  can)i)ini,'  ]iai' 
tifs  sonietirnes  staying  late  in  the  fall,  'i'lie  pond  is  a 
favorite  resort  for  convalescents  or  for  tlio.-,p  threatened 
with  limp;  troubles,  on  account  of  its  elevation,  and 
suiue  cures  have  been  thou<i'ht  to  datn  from  a  sojourn 
licic.  The  famous  WilU'v  l{ouse,  in  }\<^ene,  so  well- 
known  as  a  refuse  for  victims  of  liay  fever,  has  an  ele- 
valii:)n  of  only  seventnen  hundred  and  sixty  feet,  and 
niaiiy  popular  jilaces  in  the  Adirondacks  have  no  <;reat- 
«-r  elevation  than  Nichols  I'ond. 

Women  seldom  visit  the  pond,  hecanse  of  the  rough 
walliufj;  thron;;li  the  woods,  but  ])arties  sire  sometimes 
n.atle  uj)  for  theii-  esp^^cial  convenience. 

For  an  invalid  with  any  predisposition  to  heait 
trduble,  fourteen  iiundrc.l  hn^t  is  a  much  safer  elevatit)n 
thai)  eighteen  hundred  or  two  tiiousiind. 

North  I\.)ijtl. 

'idie  pond  next  in  siz(^  is  North  pond.  This  bes  in 
tile  sontluvestern  corner  of  the  township,  and  its  name 
indicates  that  its  lirst  discoverer  came  in  from  the  south. 
It  is  the  most  northern  of  three  ponds  wdiich  feed  Bart- 
l''tt  bror.k,  in  Moriah.  its  outlet  tlous  south  through 
•"^-•Vf.'nty-tive  into  IJartlett  pond,  which  lies  just  over  the 
bne  hi  M<uiah.  Mr.  Walter  Wilherbee  of  Tort  Henry 
has  ;i  sumuier  cottage  on  North  pond.  occuj)ied  iu  the 
hunting  season.  'J'he  pond  lies  higher  than  the  main 
'"•■id,  and  is  not  in  siitht  from  it. 


f)2  lILSrORV  OF   WIJSTJ'Oh'T 

There  is  a  smull  pond,  callfd  by  tliat  often  iiseil  iiml 
most  blii^ditin;^  name  of  "Mud  pond,"  half  a  mile  or 
more  soutli  of  North  ])oi]d,  which  is  ahso  one  of  tlie 
head  waters  of  the  Bartlett  brook.  It  is  icachcd  by  a 
trail  from  thehi|^hway.  On  the  northern  side  of  Camp- 
bell mountain  is  a  tiny  pond,  hardly  worth  mention, 
and  on  the  eastern  side  (jf  Coon  mountain  is  a  shallow, 
marshy  pond,  reached  by  iu  road  whioh  turns  in  north 
of  Mout^ville's.  Doubtless  there  are  others  in  town 
wliich  have  never  come  to  my  notice. 

The  ponds  at  Hoisiugton's  are  artificial,  and  were 
made  by  !Marcas  Hoisington,  I  have  been  told, by  dam- 
ming natural  springs.  They  lie  by  the  side  of  the  road, 
at  the  turn  near  the  old  Hoisiiigton  place,  and  for  many 
years  it  was  a  pretty  sight  to  look  down  upon  them  as 
one  passed  b_v,  but  of  lati;  they  are  somewhat  over- 
grown by  underbrush.  One  empties  into  the  other,  and 
the  outlet  liow.s  into  the  [ii)isingtou  brook.  They  were 
«)riginally  intended  U)v  the  breeding  of  fish. 

In  one  respect  the  Hammond  (sometimes  called  the 
Pooler)  brook  is  the  most  remarkable  of  all  our 
streams,  and  the  one  of  most  importance  to  the  village 
of  Westport,  in  that  it  rises  in  the  Mountain  Spring. 
Me>st  of  the  brooks  have  innumerable  tiny  sources  high 
on  the  sides  oi  the  mountains,  little  trickles  out  of 
pockets  of  wet  moss,  dripping  down  the  clitis  to  j<)iu 
other  tiny  streams  until  a  brook  is  formed,  but  here  a 
large  >i})ring,  fully  a  rod  across  and  three  or  four  feet 
deep,  bursts  out  at  tiie  font  of  a  hill,  and  Hows  awav  a 
full  stream.      The    elevation    is   less   than   six    hun-lifd 


IJ  J  STORY  OF  WKSrrORT  f::^ 

U-A,  juid  there  must  be  reservoirs  of  supply  somowliore 
ill  the  valleys  of  the  iiiouutaiDS  which  ri.se  so  dark  to 
westward.  I  ouce  heard  some  of  the  mouutain  dweU 
It  r>,  whose  fathei's  and  j^'randfathers  roamed  these  hill- 
sides nil  tlieir  live:"»,  knowinji;  little  of  any  other  ])art  of 
the  world,  f^ravely  discussing  the  question  whether  this 
^i'lin.ii;  might  not  be  an  outlet  to  Nichols  pond.  h. 
river  tiowin«;  two  mile.s  and  a  half  nnderground,  with  a 
fall  f>f  eight  hundred  feet,  makes  a  picture  delightful  to 
om-'s  imagination,  with  its  suggestion  of  Coleridge's 
"lvnV»la  Khan," 

"Wiif-re  Al])h,  the  sacred  rive)',  ran, 
Through  caverns  tneasurt-less  to  man, 
Down  to  a  sunless  sea." 

And  I  heard  too,  nt  tlie  same  time,  legends  of  a  "Lost 
Ihook,"  which  uiight  be  followed  for  a  long  way  by 
Sdiiu'  lone  tishevm;iu,  who  would  at  last  come  to  a  deep 
]'('(il  beneath  overhanging  boulders, and  there  the  brook 
V.  ould  disapi>ear  entirely,  and  never  could  be  traced 
Hni)ther  rod.  I  have  clierished  these  tales  for  their  hint 
of  a  folk-lore  among  our  pi'osaic  people. 

This  mountain  spring  was  earlv  a  precious  posses- 
siiMi.  well-known  to  the  first  settlers,  and  no  doubt 
t"  the  Indians  befoi'e  them.  I  think  it  was  Joseph 
Stacy  who  cleared  the  f(M-ests  from  the  field  near  the 
s]>iing.  and  he  gained  but  a  l)arren  pasture  thereby. 
Ibu  th(-  little  glen  arouml  the  spiing,  and  through 
whicii  the  brook  flows  away  down  the  hills,  is  still 
shaded  with  trees.  The  water  is  very  clear  nnd  soft, 
a!:.l  snpj.lies  all  the  village  through  pi[)es.      The    plao- 


(!4  1  [I STORY  OF  W'ESTPOIIT 

is  not  si5  wild  and  pretty  'siuco  tlie  pavilion  has  beeu 
l)uilt  over  tlio  sprinj^  by  the  water  compaii}',  but  the 
tlow  of  water  iu  the  brook  is  not  perceptibly  dimin- 
ished by  the  hir^;e  quantity  drawn  away  daily,  especi- 
ally in  the  summer.  The  water  is  carried  to  the  railway 
station,  where  it  fills  the  great  stone  reservoir,  to  Stony 
Sides  and  to  Jacksonville. 

In  the  southeastern  corner  of  the  town,  about  a  half 
mile  from  the  lake  and  not  far  from  the  railroad,  lie  the 
Adirondack  Springs,  four  in  number.  I  believe  tlie 
analysis  shows  them  to  be  very  similar  to  the  famous 
springs  of  Saratoga,  and  I  am  sure  they  liave  much  the 
same  forbidding  taste.  They  have  had  great  local 
celebrity  since  the  first  settlement,  especially  in  the 
cure  of  skin  diseases.  Twenty  years  or  more  ago  Mr. 
George  Spencer  bought  tlje  property,  built  spring 
houses  over  the  spiing.s,  hung  np  ;>.  framed  analysis  of 
their  waters,  and  invited  fame  and  i^-osperity  to  the 
spot,  but  neither  responded  in  ;niything  but  a  moderate 
digroe,  and  the  mantle  of  Saratoga  has  not  yet  fallen 
upon  us. 

Almost  every  farm  has  one  or  two  small  springs 
for  domestic  u-e,  though  iu  some  places  the  tell-tale 
windmill  proclaims  the  i)overty  of  the  water  supplv. 


HISTORY  OF  WESTPORT  ilr> 

FLOI^A. 

Our  short  summer  is  full  of  luxuriant  life.  Though 
wo  call  our  mouutains  barren,  because  they  produce  so 
little  with  which"  to  support  human  life,  they  are  covered 
with  the  richest  foliage  everywhere  except  u]3ou  the 
steepest  ledges  and  elites.  All  the  country  is  green  and 
beautiful  with  a  wealth  of  vegetable  life. 

Oar  most  common  trees,  are  the  maple,  elm,  birch 
and  oak.  There  is  the  soft  maple,  which  has  every 
twig  as  red  as  coral  in  the  spring,  and  the  rock  maple, 
or  sugar  maple,  which  furnishes  a  staple  industry  in  the 
season  of  sugar  making.  The  elm  is  not  so  common 
nor  so  large  as  in  the  Connecticut  valley,  but  its  grace- 
ful shape  is  seen  in  every  landscape.  One  of  our  dis- 
tuictive  trees  is  the  white  birch,  slender,  with  delicate 
foliage,  apparently  always  young.  The  finest  oaks  that 
1  know  are  those  at  the  Hunter  place,  on  North  Shore. 
They  look  as  though  they  saw  war-dances  of 
JiT.,piois,  and  would  hold  those  great  limbs  out  for  cen- 
turies after  we  are  ail  gone.  Ash  and  poplar  are  also 
common.  Ou  the  highlands  we  find  the  white  ash, 
goud  for  timber,  and  in  the  swamps  the  worthless  black 
^'--h.  The  shimmering  poplar  is  one  of  our  pret- 
tiL-st.  forest  trees,  and  we  have  the  Lombardy  poplar, 
I'ut  that,  of  course,  is  a  tran.splanted  tree,  brought  in 
Jiom  New  England,  whence  it  came  from  old  England, 
^^^■ho  jiad  it  from  Italy,  who  had  it  first  from  Persia. 
J'iiere  are  only  a  few  in  town,  but  the  fine  row  at  Basin 
Harl>or  make  a  decorative  efFect  veiy   noticeable  on   a 


f!0  HISTORY  or  WESTPORT 

clear  day.  Other  tiansplnuted  trees,  not  native  to  our 
foi-e.st,  are  the  iocnst,  a  favorite  in  old-fashioned  door- 
yards  for  the  sake  of  its  fragrant  blossoms  in  the  sprinrr; 
the  mountain  ash,  brought  from  liigh  mountain  levels 
for  the  beauty  of  its  great  scarlet  bunches  of  berries; 
the  horse-chestnut,  Avith  its  spikes  of  blossoms,  the 
silver  maple,  and  the  "balin  of  Gilead."  Our  basswood 
is  the  English  linden,  I  have  been  told,  and  its  blos- 
soms are  loved  by  the  bees. 

Our-nut  trees  are  the  hickory,  which  we  always  call 
the  walnut, the  butternut, and  the  beech.  We  have  neither 
the  chestnut  tree  nor  the  black  walnut,  although  a  few  of 
the  latter  have  beeu  set  out  as  an  experiment.  In  this 
climate  many  of  the  shells  of  the  black  walnut  will  be 
found  to  be  empty.  The  haxel  nut  is  common,  growing 
on  wayside  shrubs,  and  the  weird  witch  hazel,  with  its 
wild  Xovcnd)t>r  l)lossoms.  Hardback,  willow,  aiders 
sumac,  osier.— I  am  afraid  I  shall  not  name  thorn  all. 

Our  evergreen  trees  are  pine,  spruce  and  hemlock, 
with  some  cedar  and  balsam,  and  an  occasional  tam- 
arack. The  juniper  sprawls  untidily  over  barren  cleared 
fields.  Wild  vines  are  the  bitter-sweet,  the  clematis  or 
smoke-vine,  the  wild  grape,  the  wood-bine,  and  the 
dreaded  poisi^i  i\  v. 

Every  field  has  strawl>erries  in  June,  and  raspberries 
a  little  later  along  the  fences,  and  then  blackberries. 
You  may  find  a  f-w  blueberries  on  the  mountain 
sides,  but  nothing  like  tlie  blueberry  plains  of  Saranac, 
where  they  are  scoop,  d  olV  the  bushes  ^^\ih  tin  dipj.ers 


HISTORY  OF  WEST  roar  6'7 

;iml  brou<;ht  dowu  to  tlio  lowlands    iu    wagon-loads  to 
1h>  sold. 

Our  CLiltivatod  fruit  trees  are  the  apple,  pear,  cherry 
and  plum.  We  are  too  far  north  for  peaches,  quinces 
or  prunes,  though  I  have  known  them  all  to  be  raised 
as  an  t^xperimeut.  The  apple  crop  of  the  Champlain 
vnlley  is  acknowledged  to  be  as  good  as  anything  in  the 
market,  and  Vrestporl  raises  large  qaatititics  of  apples. 


I  suppose  there  is  not  a  dangerous  wild  auinuil  left 
in  Westport,  even  in  the  recesses  of  the  mountains. 
]5iit  I  may  perhaps  speak  too  confidently,  as  I  remem- 
ber that  within  twenty  years  our  oldest  hunter,  Mr. 
Hinckley  Coll,  brought  into  the  village  the  carcass  of  a 
b.-ar  which  he  had  caught  in  a  trap  somewhere  in  the 
bills  back  of  his  farm.  1  ate  a  piece  of  the  steak  cut 
from  it  myself,  and  very  black  and  tough  it  seemed. 
Even  as  I  write,  is  there  not  alawsuit  pending,  in  which 
rh;ugt:s  are  made  against  some  person,  not  a  bear,  who 
stole  a  bear  trap  from  a  mountain  side?  I  believe  the 
trap  was  set  a  long  time  ago,  and  the  person  who  stole 
it  is  dead,  and  the  lawsuit  the  ex[nession  of  a  mountain 
f'Hid,  but  it  shows  that  we  have  not  forgotten  what 
bear  traps  are,  at  any  rale,  and  so  has  its  value  as  a 
picturesque  incident.  Panthers  have  been  extinct 
williiij  our  limits  a  longer  tiuje  than  bears,  but  the  old 
p'^ojile  can  still  tell  you  stcn'ies  about  wolves.  Mr. 
Henry  Uetts  has  told   hju    of    shee[)    cauglil    by    wolves 


^>S  HISTORY  OF  WESTPORT 

vhon  lie  w;is  a  young  man,  living  on  a  farm  on  tli(! 
M-estern  slope  of  tlio  Split  iJock  range,  and  of  bears 
who  came  iiroLHul  the  out-buildiugs  at  night. 

The  moose  were  gone  more  than  two  generations  ago, 
and  the  beaver,  so  harmless  and  so  easily  killed,  was 
soon  exterminated  by  the  eai'ly  settlers. 

The  largest  wild  animal  VNhifh  we  ever  see  is  the 
deer.  Their  gentle  hiibirs  lead  them  sometimes  to  seek 
pasturage  among  shee()  and  cattle  in  outlying  pastures. 
Foxe^an'l  rabbits  we  have,  the  "fretful  porcupine," 
dangerous  to  inexi^erienced  dogs,  the  loud  and  fre- 
•  queut  skunk,  the  solemn  woodehuok.  the  striped-baek 
chipmunk,  the  pert  red  squin'el,  the  beautiful  silver 
gray  squirrel,  whose  tail  is  such  a  splendid  plume,  and, 
though  rare,  the  Hying  squirrel.  There  are  muskrats 
around  the  brooks,  sometimes  a  mink  or  !i  marten. 
The  farmer's  boy  has  stories  of  tlie  elusive  weasel,  and 
the  raccoon  is  still  occasionally  killed.  Swarms  of  wild 
bees  are  found  and  hived  ever}-  season  bv  lovers  of  the 
gentle  craft  of  "hunting  bee  trees." 

Mosquitoes  we  know,  esjx-cially  if  living  neai-  the 
edge  of  the  woods,  but  they  are  seldom  troublesome 
after  June.  The  dreaded  black-liy  of  the  mountains  I 
have  never  seen  here. 

I  think  our  only  game  bird  is  tlie  partridge.  AVe 
have  all  the  northern  singing  birds,  robin,  boboliid<, 
blue-bird,  chicka.lee,  phebe-bird,  oriole  and  the  cat- 
bird, or  American  mocking-bird,  with  its  two  distinct 
songs.  Th^-  swallow  builds  uniler  the  eaves  of  barns, 
and  the  I'l.'gli^h  sp;irrow  is  n.-iM"  in  the   village  street.-. 


niSTonY  OF  WKSTPuirr  c.) 

\Vt.'  are  sure  that  spring  lias  come  only  -when  we  liave 
li.  aril,  i.ni  tlie  eJge  of  the  evening,  the  cry  of  the  whip- 
pooruill. 

The  oldest  family  %vhieh  can  trace  lineal  descent 
within  the  bordej-s  of  the  town  is  that  of  the  rattle- 
siiake.  They  are  found  in  but  one  locality— that  of 
the  remoter  parts  of  the  Split  Rock  range.  Here  they 
have  d.  lis  in  the  rocks,  and  when  there  was  a  bounty 
paid  by  the  town  for  each  rattle,  people  living  near  by 
used  to  go  iuto^  the  mountains  to  their  dens  and  kill 
tliem  in  large  numbers.  I  believe  the  bounty  is  no 
longer  }iaid,  which  seems  a  pity,  as  tiiese  unpleasant 
iifigiibors  must  be  increasing.  There  is  no  record  of 
any  jiersou  being  bitfeii  by  them  within  the  memory  of 
living  man.  I  have  tried  to  draw  out  rattlesnake  stories 
from  people  who  ha^e  lived  long  in  the  rattlesnake  re- 
gion, but  never  heard  of  even  a  cow  in  the  pasture  whicli 
suth-red  fiom  the  wound  of  a  rattlesnake  bite.  I  have 
been  told  tiiat  it  was  unpleasant  to  find  one  of  the  un- 
canny things  in  a  cock  of  hay  in  the  liay  field,  or  to 
i;ome  upon  one  sleeping  comfortably  in  your  back 
kitchen,  but  the  rattlesnake  is  not  pugmicious,  and 
Would  rather  run  than  tight.  The  Indians  tried  to  pro- 
pitiate them  by  always  speaking  politely  of  them  as 
"the  (jld  briglit  inhabitants." 


70  mSrORY  OF  ]VESTl'OnT 

ci.i:matj:. 

The  climrit*'  of  We.stport  is,  lilse  it.s  dialect,  tluit  of 
New  EDgfaud.  It  is  often  described  by  the  uatives, 
(who  couM  not  be  induced  to  exchange  it  for  that  of 
any  other  spot  on  earth,)  as  "nine  months  winter  and 
tiiree  luontiis  hite  in  the  fall.  "  Granting  that  there  are 
moods  and  seasons  wlien  this  description  has  a  ring  of 
solemn  rcahty,  it  fails  as  a  literal  formula  in  one  essen- 
tial poii;t.  It  gives  an  impression  of  continuity,  of 
monotony,  and  never,  never  coald  the  worst  enemy  of 
our  climate  call  it  monotonous!  No,  we  have  endless 
variety.  Our  winter  is  long  ami  cold.  A  fire  lighted 
to  warm  the  house  in  November  will  not  be  suffered  to 
go  out  until  the  next  March,  perha}>s  April.  We  do  not 
expect  much  snow  until  after  Christmas,  though  in  ex- 
ceptional years  we  iiave  had  a  heavy  fall  for  Thanks- 
giving which  has  stayed  upon,  the  ground  until  the  next 
spring.  If  yL»u  \Aiiiter  in  'W'ostport,  pray  for  snow. 
Anything  but  an  "o[u-n  \\  inter."  A  foot  of  hard  packed 
snow,  gooil  sleighing,  no  drifts,  a  clear  air,  and  life  may 
be  not  only  toleial>le  but  merry.  Even  heavy  snows, 
A\ith  high  wiiiiUai)d  dee])  drifts,  have  an  inteiest  nud 
eujovmt.nt,  and  st.-t  one  to  quoting  lines  from  "Snow- 
bound" with  much  relish.  Often  there  are  ujarveKnis 
displays  of  the  aurora  borealis,  on  clear  cold  nights. 

The  lake  freizi-s  over  at  any  time  between  the  first 
(»f  January  and  the  middle  of  February.  About  once  in 
every  generation  there  comes  one  of  those  exceptional 
•winters  when  the  lake  does  not  freeze  over  at  all.  If 
it   frte/e-<  late,  W(;  ate  likelv    ti)    have    no    uood    C10S?,inL' 


JUsmHV  OF  WKSrrnRT  71 

on  tlio  ii'.!  from  Westport  to  B;isiu  Barbor,  a  distaiico 
of  foui-  miles.  The  crossing;  from  Aruold's  bay  to 
I5arl>er's  pt>int  is  t4ic  ouo  most  used.  The  lake  is  uai-- 
rouor  from  Rock  Harbor  to  Basin  Haibor,  br.t  this  is 
t'litirrly  out  of  the  ordinary  line  of  travel.  When  the 
ii-e  is  discovered'  to  be  firm  enough  to  bear  up  a  horse, 
sotiio  one,  usually  a  man  living  nciir  the  shore,  "whose 
family,  perhaps,  has  pei'formefl  the  sau)e  public  service 
for  generations,  like  the  Barbers  of  Barber's  point,  will 
g()  on  the  ice  and  '"bush  out  a  road"  from  one  shore  to 
the  other,  choosing  the  best  places  to  cross  the  cracks, 
turning  out  for  air  holes,  etc.  This  road  is  outlined  by 
I'Ushes  fixed  in  holes  in  the  ice,  and  v.-ill  be  used  by  all 
travelers  until  the  ice  becomes  weak  and  treacherous 
in  the  S[u-iug. 

The  ice  breaks  up,  as  a  rule,  between  the  last  of 
March  and  th,e  first  of  ^fay.  Sometimes  it  nielts  slowly 
ihd  gradually  under  a  constantly  rising  temperature, 
but  more  often  it  goes  out  with  tenspestuous  winds, 
which  toss  and  grind  it  against  the  shore,  sometimes 
piling  it  many  feet  high.  The  bi-eaking  up  of  the  ice 
is  always  eagerly  longed  for,  and  occasions  much  re- 
mark and  discussion.'  The  relief  from  tlie  tension  of 
the  "long  and  dreary  winter"  is  always  very  noticeable. 

Charles  Dudley  Warner  described  our  s|)ring  when 
he  dtscribed  that  of  New  England, — tiiat  is,  he  de- 
>eril)ed  one  siuing,  kn(->wing  full  well  that noone  spring 
time  is  ever  like  another.  Sometimes  it  is  long  and 
tedious,  exaggerating  Coleridge's  line. 


71?  JIISTORY  OF  WlJSTJ'Oin' 

"Spriiifi^  couK-s  slowly  up  this  way." 

Sometimes  we  Lave  a  howling  blizzard  one  week,  and 
the  next,, — 

"Now  is  the  winter  of  our  discontent 
Made  glorious  summer — " 
uni]  we.liave  not  had  an}'  spring  at  all. 

1  have  gathered  pussy  willo\\s  by  the  side  of  a  dusty 
ro-.rd  early  in  March,  and  on  the  other  hand,  I  have 
seen 'my  tomato  plants  seared  by  a  frost  the  first  night 
in  June.  These  two  events  represent  the  extremes  of 
my  owe-  experience,  and  m;iy  be  takeu  to  demonstrate 
the  fact  that  upon  our  calendar  spring  is  a  movable 
feast.  But, — "Thanks  be  !"  as  Mr.  Dooley  says,  it  al- 
ways i.s  spring  when  it  comes,  and  it  always  brings 
summer. 

No  higher  praise  of  our  summers  can  be  said  or  sung 
than  that  over  and  over  again,  year  after  year,  they 
force  us  to  forgive  our  climate  for  the  winters.  Our 
summers  and  autumnsarethe  loveliest  in  the  world.or  at 
least  they  seem  so  to  us  who  love  the  "north  couutree." 

I  have  no  statistics  of  the  temperature,  or  the  rain- 
fall, or  the  velocity  of  th«  wind,  nor  do  I  know  that  any 
one  ever  took  the  trouble  to  observe  these  things  scien- 
tiiically  in  Westport.  I  know  that  the  thermometer 
sometimes  touches  ninety  degrees  above  in  the  sum- 
mer, and  twenty  below  in  the  winter,  but  these  are  ex- 
tiemes  not  repeated  in  every  season. 

Along  the  lake  shore  the  tem}>erature  is  equalized  to 
a  certain  degree  by  the  i)roximity  of  a  large  body  of 
water,  so  that  sudden  changes  are  iivt  so  much    felt    a> 


JIISTOIiY  or  WESTrOlJT  lA 

ill  the  inoiuitaiiis.  Frost  comes  earlier  in  tlte  autnuiii 
Miul  later  in  tlio  spring  upon  the  highlands  than  aloiif,' 
t!ie  lake,  and  of  course  "Nichols  pond  and  the  rjve)- 
freeze  much  earlier  than  Lake  Champlaiu. 


i:>IAIJX'l\ 

Our  dialect  you  will  find  reproduced  in  the  New 
llni^land  fiction  of  Miss  Wilkius,  Miss  Jewett  and  Mr. 
}h. wells.  You  will  also  find  it  iu  "David  Harum." 
}>nt  its  most  ]ierfect  copy,  drawn  with  the  keenest  sense 
of  its  shades  and  fancies,  you  will  find  in  the  inimitai)lf 
sketclies  of  Kowland  E.  Robinson.  He  is  dead  now, 
alas  I  and  he  will  never  take  us  again  to  hear  the  talk 
iii  "Uncle  'Li.-;ha's  Shop,"  nor  let  us  go  hunting  with 
Sau)  Lovel.  How  well  he  knew  the  speech  of  the 
ciiuiitry  frdk,  and  with  what  love  and  enjoyment  he  set 
it  di»wn  !  He  Hved  only  a  few  miles  away,  across  the 
l:'ke  in  the  town  of  Ferrishurgh,  near  I5asin  Harbor, 
and  the  people  that  he  knew  had  the  same  ways,  and 
th«-  same  thoughts  and  the  same  forms  of  expression  as 
the  people  of  \Vest])ort.  Our  amazement-is  t^ometimes 
♦•^pressed  iu  the  mysterious  a!lusi,-)u  of  "What  iu  Sam 
Hill  I"  or  "What  in  tunket!"  We  clip  out  of  our 
^peech  every  vowel  and  consonant  that  can  })ossibly  l)e 
spared.  We  say,  "We  sh'd  think  't  Sam  Lov'l  'n' 
I't'l'tiah  'n'  'mongst  'em  might  'a'  ketched  ev'ry  dam 
fish  'n  th'  lake  b'  this  time,"  ]>recisely  like  Mr.  Robin- 
son's characit-rs.  At  the  same  time,  most  of  us  ar^ 
ptifi'ctly  well  able  to  wiile  a  letter  in   good   dictionary 


74  HISTORY  OF  WESTJ'URT 

English,  or  to  m;ike  a  speech,  or  to  carry  on  a  conver- 
BatFon,  and  ouly  drop  into  the  dialect  when  we  feel  it 
quite  proper  to  the  occasion.  ^Ye  are  conscious  of  our 
dialect  and  connoisseurs  iu  its  use,  like  the  Scotch,  and 
unlike  the  English,  v.ho  drop  tljeir  h's  and  final  g's  in 
serene  belief  that  all  the  world  does  the  same. 

But  we  have  those  among  us  who  are  not  conscious  of 
their  dialect.     I  do  not  mean  the  city  visitors,  hut  the 
French  Canadians  who  form  a  certain  proportion  of  our 
population.     Mr.  Rohinson  has  given  us  the  type  in  his 
Antwine,-r-and  many  and  many  an  "Antwine"  is  ours  ! 
His  broken  speech,  a  mixture  of  Canadian  patois  and 
Yankee  English,  his  small  wiry  form,  the  traces  of  his 
Indian  ancestry    shown    in  swarthy    skin,  high   cheek 
bones,  black  bead-like  eyes  and  straight  black  hair,  his 
industry,  his  cleanliufss  and   thrift,   his  incapacity    to 
rise    to    wealth    or    oiliee,  his  illimitable  family,— all 
these  characteristics  mark  the  people  known  familiarly 
and  not  disresj^eclfally  as   "Canucks."     They  probably 
came  iu  very  early,  as  soon  as  laborers  were   required 
upou  the  farms  or  in  the  iron  works,  and,  easily   satis- 
tied  with  simple  conditions,  have  been  content  to  stay. 
These  two  forms  (jf  dialect  seem    to   have   moditied 
each  oth   r  but  little,  the   native   New    England   speech 
being  altogether  the  ]3revailing  language.     A  close   ob- 
server can  trace  in  the  latter  some  moditicatious  caused 
by  the  summer   floods  of   strangers  from   Boston    and 
New  York.     Thus  the  youth  who  was   \yont   to  answer 
an  inquiry  with  a  drawling  "Wha-a-at ?"  and  a  vacuous 
stare,  la  '\gawp"  w.>  call  ir  iu  th.;  dialoct,)  uow  vosi.ouds 


HfSTOh'Y  OF  WKSrrORT  7-' 

with  :v  "iVji:  pnvdon?"  and  an  e)i^af^iu^  stuilo.  The  bear 
stnn'-->  .^f  Tho  OKlcst  Inhabitant  are  still  couched  in  the 
origin.t,'  ti^iii:;uo,  but  the  hotel  porter  wlio  takes  yonr  bag 
at  thf-  >:cition  might  defy  yon  to  prove  liim  not  born  in 
XewY-k. 


in  NISTOKY  OF  WKS'/TORT 


FIRST  PAllT. 

1G09-1785. 

I. 

Indian  Occiipation. 

The  thst  iuhabitaiits  of  Westport  were  tbe  savage 
Iroquois,  one  of  the  most  powerful  of  the  native 
tribes.  Their  uomad  life,  with  hoines  in  wigwauran.l 
lod^e,  was  pbculiavly  adapted  to  leaving  no  permanent 
trace  upon  the  soil.  The  beaver  whom  they 
hunted  has  left  more  lasting  impress  of  his  labor 
than  they.  The  red  Indian  never  built  a  dam,  aud  the 
barl:  cauoo  which  was  the  crowning  eftbrt  of  his  skill 
and  industry  needed  no  wharf  at  which  to  laud.  ^  hy 
should  he  bridge  a  stream  that  his  enemy  might  cross 
more  quickly  than  he  ?  But  we  often  pick  up  an  arrow 
head,  chipped  with  iutinite  patience  out  of  stone.  On 
laud  that  has  been  cultiv;Ued  for  a  cuutury,  we  plow  up 
arrow  heads  with  puiut  and  edges  as  sharp  as  when  the 
Indian  hunter  took  aim  along  the  shaft  and  pulled  the 
bow  string  to  send   it  on  its  errand  to  fcje  or  prey. 

If  we  can  point  to  any  local  monument  of  the  Indian, 
it  is  in  two  plact-s  wliich  we  call  Indian  burying  grounds, 
from  the  quantity  of  arrow  heads  which  have  been 
found  there.  P<M-ha]>s  Wf  should  c;dl  them  battle  grounds 
if  otir  kiiov.l.:d;.'.>  was  luorc  couqilcte.       Uu  the  Ijotpi-t 


HISTORY  OF  Wh'ST/'njrr  77 

rivt-r,  a  I'^ttlo  below  "Wadhaiiis  Mills,  is  a  ])liic('  always 
icftjiiod  to  as  "the  old  iiitlian  buryiug  grouud,"  and  on 
tilt' shore  of  Lake  Chani])lain,  south  of  the  villap;e  and 
tiMith  of  Holt's  brook,  is  another.  Here  I  ain  tolil  that 
Imndreds  of  arrow  heads  have  been  discovered. 

Another  remarkable  si^n  of  Indiau  oceu])ation  is 
fMUiul  on  the  top  of  one  of  the  mouutaius  of  the  Split 
ilni'k  range,  overlookiir^  North  Shore,  on  the  land 
bought  in  1838  by  Uv.  William  Guy  Hunter.  Here  are 
found  quantities  of  stone  chippings, such  as  are  left  when 
Indian  pipes  and  other  utensils  are  made,  and  which 
always  indicate  an  Indian  work-shop.  The  place  couj- 
mands  an  extended  view,  and  no  doubt  some  tribe  of 
t!it^  Iroquois  was,iu  the  habit  of  encamping  here  at  in- 
tervals in  its  wanderings.  The  stone  chi}ipiugs  a-e  of 
a  peculiar  kind  of  stone,  unlike  any  in  the  vicinity,  and 
gf-ologists  say  that  it  is  found  only  on  the  shores  of 
Lake  Superior.  Students  of  Indian  character  and  cus- 
ttiiiis  find  no  dilBeulty  in  believing  that  the  stone  was 
brought  here  from  that  placr.  and  supplied  material  for 
tilt'  lirst  manufacture  cai-ried  on  upon  our  soil. 

Large,  bowl-like  hollows,  worn  into  the  solid  rock, 
fonud  on  the  hillsides  of  the  Split  Ivick  range.  I  have 
ln'ard  called  "Indian  Mortars,"  but  these  are  no  doubt 
due  to  glacial  action. 

1009-1755. 

Tlie  first  white  man  whose  eyes  rested  u])ou  the 
shores  of  Westport  was  the  discoverer  of  the  lake,  the 
bra\e  ajjd  brilliant  Samuel  ile   Champlaiu,    a  soldier  in 


78  n  I  STORY  OF  WESTPORT 

the  service  of  France.  He  passed  by  on  July  4,  IGOO 
the  leador  of  an  Indian  war-party  in  twenty-four  canoes. 
After  tif^htinj:;  a  battle  at  the  head  of  the  lake  with  the 
Iroquois,  he  returned,  near  the  end  of  July,  passiup;  by 
again  on  his  way  to  Quebec,  founded  only  the  year  be- 
fore. His  remark  upon  the  eastern  border  of  what  is 
now  Essex  county  is  this  ;  "These  parts,  though  agree- 
able, ar<j  not  inhabited  by  any  Indians,  in  consequence 
of  their  wars."  In  this  it  was  said  to  be  different  to 
the  opposite  shore,  the  level  bottom  lands  of  Vermont, 
where  vvere  many  Iroquois  villages,  with  cultivated 
fields. 

Another  reason  doubtless  influenced  the  ludians  in 
their  avoidance  of  these  shores.  It  was  that  they  were 
a  corn-raising  people,  so  far  as  their  practice  of  the  art 
of  agriculture  went,  and  our  clay  soil  is  not  adapted  to 
corn.  An  Indian  village  was  always  set  up  u})on  sandy 
or  gravel'}  lomn,  if  jiussible.  Then  the  deep  water  of 
the  lake,  with  the  wide  sweep  for  storms  upon  it,  was 
very  dangerous  for  the  Indian's  frail  canoe,  and  for 
common  every  day  life  he  chose  shallower  water. 

We  do  not  know  the  name  of  tiie  first  white  man  who 
set  foot  upon  our  soil,  but  there  is  little  doubt  that  it 
was  one  of  the  band  of  Jesuit  missionaries  who  followed 
close  after  Champhiiu,  traversing  all  this  region  again 
and  again  with  the  tireless  feet  and  the  unquenchable 
liopo  of  the  religious  fanatic.  Devoted,  highmindeil 
men  were  those  missionaries,  with  an  utter  disregard 
of  selfish  motives  unsurpassed  in  the  history  of  the 
mind  of  r!:an.     They  lived  among  the  savages,   making 


IIJSTom'  OF   WKSTJ'Oh'T  7!/ 

tl,»'U) selves  snbjVct  unto  Ihein,  and  often  faiiuij  \v(>i->.e 
tliau  tliev.  They  were  as  patient  as  they  were  brave 
a!i(l  no  snliliuiity  of  heroism  can  ever  rise  altove  tht^ 
M-rcnity  with  which  they  lookeil  forward  to  niartyi'ilom 
u>.  the  consuinnuition  of  their  work. 

There  is  a  singular  proof  of  the  visits  of  thesf  n)i^^- 
>ionaries  to  our  shores.  In  the  snnuner  of  1S75,  Dr. 
St- wall  S.  Cuttinf]^,  while  walkiujj;  along  the  slunt  of  the 
lake  near  Hunter's  Uay,  on  North  Sliore,  found  among 
Wiv  sand  aud  pebbles  a  little  ebony  image  of  the  Virgin 
and  Child,  such  as  might  be  used  in  the  devotions  of  a 
devout  Catholic,  or  shown  to  the  wcuidering  eyes  of 
ravages,  liearing  for  the  first  time  of  the  >[other  and 
Child  of  l^etlilehem.  This  image  must  have  been  lost 
Iv  a  missionary  qr  bv  some  one  of  his  dusky  converts, 
perhaps  in  the  time  of  Oham[ilain.  [>erha[)S  much  later. 
Ir  may  have  lielonged.  to  Father  Jogues  himself,  one  of 
the  most  interesting  and  ]')athetic  figures  in  all  the  his- 
tory of  New  France." 

Isaac  Jogues  was  born  in  Orleans,  France,  in  IT.OT, 
He  was  a  Roman  Catholic  })ricst,  and  belonged 
to  the  order  of  Jesuits.  He  came  tf>  the  new  coi  _ 
tin<  lit  ill  lOoG,  passing  through  the  settlement  on  the 
St.  Lawrence  to  the  Indian  mission  on  Lake  Huron,  to 
which  he  had  been  assigned.  Heie  he  remained  six  yeais, 
l.tliorint:  with  self-sacriticing  fervor  in  his  barren   field, 


•The  im.iye  found  by  Dr.  Cutting  was  presented  by  him  to  the  museum 
o!  Brown  Uni»ersity,  where  it  may  probably  be  seen  now.  If  Wistport  had  had 
»  rnuseuni  of  her  own,  as  every  town  should  hive,  this  interesting-  relic  would  now 
be  treasured  ia  the  scenes  to  which  it  belongs. 


'SO  lllSTunr  OF  WKSTl'ORT 

ciud  iij  ]G42he  weut  to  Quebec  to  obtain  supplies  In- 
his  mission,  lietuniiiij:^  in  ji  canoe  whicli  Avas  cue  of 
the  foremost  in  a  little  fleet  of  twelve,  filled  with  Huron 
Inclians,  he  was  ca])tured  at  the  mouth  of  the  Pvicholieu 
river  by  a  party  of  Iroquois,  and  carried  captive  up  the 
Richelieu  and  Lake  Champlain,  to  the  south.  He  mi^lit 
have  escaped,  but  seeing  his  companions  taken,  he  p;ave 
himself  up.  He  v,as  beaten  with  -war-clubs,  and  his 
linger  nails  tornolTby  the  teeth  of  the  Iroquois.  The 
two  priests  with  him,  Couture  aud  Goupil,  were  also 
tortured. 

"On  the  eighth  day,"  (Aug.  9,)  says  Parkman,  in  his 
"Jesuits  in  North  America,"  "they  approached  th.ir 
camp,  on  a  small  ishmd  near  the  southern  end  of  Lake 
Champlain.  The  warriors,  two  hundred  in  number, 
armed  with  clubs  and  thorny  sticks,  raiiged  themselves 
in  two  lines,  between  wliich  the  captives  were  compelled 
to  pass  up  the  side  of  a  rocky  hill.  On  the  way,  they 
were  beaten  with  such  fury  that  Jogues,  who  was  tlie 
last  in  the  line,  fell  powerless,  drenched  in  blood  and 
half  dead.  As  the  chief  man  among  the  French  cap- 
tives, he  fared  the  worst.  In  the  morning  they  re- 
sumed their  journey.  And  ntnv  the  lake  narrowed  to 
the  semblance  of  a  trauvpiil  river." 

That  the  island  im-ntioued  was  the  one  now  included 
within  tlie  limits  of  the  township  of  Westport,  aud 
sometiuus  called  "No  Man's  Land,"  there  is  no  doubt 
whatever.  Tht-re  are  no  other  islands  near  the  south- 
ern fu  I  of  the  hikt;  cNctpt  I'ock  and  Mud  islands,  near 


in  STORY  OF  WEST  PORT  f^l 

the  Yermout  shore,  anJ  ueither  oue  is  hirge  enough  to 
aiVor^l  a  camp  for  two  huiulred  ludiaus. 

The  captives  were  taken  by  way  of  Lake  George 
to  the  Iroquois  vilhip;esou  the  Mohawk  river.  For  a  year 
Jop;nes  remained  a  miserable  captive  among  these  hn- 
niau  wolves,  tindiug  his  only  solace  in  an  occasional 
opportunity  to  baptise  a  dying  Indian  baby,  or  a  cap- 
tive jterishing  at  the  stake. 

The  Dutch  of  Fort  Orauge  forgetting  all  barriers  of 
blood  or  religion,  tried  in  vain  to  ransom  him.  Finally 
Arendt  van  Corlear,  the  governor  so  beloved  and  re- 
spected by  the  Indians,  who  was  afterward  drowned  iu 
Lake  Cliamplaiu,  contrived  to  help  him  to  escape  to 
France.  There  the  queen  herself  kissed  his  mutilated 
hands,  and  he  was  courted  and  praised,  but  the  order 
of  Jesuits  knows  how  to  n)ake  full  use  of  such  spirits 
as  that  of  Isaac  Jogues,  and  in  a  fev.-  months'  time  he  was 
sent  back  to  Canada.  It  is  said  tliat  when  this  decision 
of  his  superiors  was  commuuicated  to  him,  for  a  mo- 
ment his  heart  of  flesh  failed  him,  and  he  cried  out  that 
this  cup  might  pass  from  him.  One's  heart  goes  out  in 
passionate  pity  for  the  man  thus  sent  back  to  his  doom. 
In  1G4.6  he  made  three  j(,)urneys  through  Lake  Cham- 
l)lain,  and  it  may  be  that  he  stood  again  on  the  island 
which  was  the  scene  of  his  former  tortures,  but  we  do 
not  know.  The  third  time  that  he  traversed  the  lake 
he  returned  to  the  Mohawk,  as  he  well  knew,  for  the 
last  time.  On  the  eighteenth  of  October,  IGIO,  he  was 
struck  down  in  an  Iroquois  wigwam,    and    his    blood 


{>'2  insrniiY  of  WKSTroirr 

cousecrateJ  tlie  soil  of  the  "Mission  of  tbe  Martvrs" 
auioug  tbe  Mohawks. 

Parkmaii  thus  desciibos  the  personal  ajjpearance  of 
Father  Jogues.  "His  oval  face  anJ  the  delic-ate  njonld 
of  his  features  indicated  a  modest,  thoughtful  and  re- 
fined nature.  He  was  constitutionally  timid,  with  a 
sensitive  conscience  and  great  religious  susceptibilities. 
He  was  a  finished  scholar,  and  might  have  gained  a 
literary  reputation  ;  but  he  had  chosen  another  career, 
and  one  fi)r  whicii  he  seemed  but  ill  fitted.  Physically, 
however,  he  was  well  matched  with  his  work;  for, 
though  his  frame  was  slight,  he  was  so  active  that  none 
of  the  Indiiins  could  surpass  him  in  running." 

For  a  hundred  years  after  the  death  of  Father  Jogues 
we  have  no  record  of  any  event  occurring  within  the 
limits  of  our  town.  Dark  forests,  rushing  streams, 
fcteep  cliff's  or  slo]~>ing  shore,  it  was  traversed  by  wild 
beasts  and  wild  men,  fuinishing  shelter  and  food  to 
both  in  the  same  degree.  If  any  human  liabitatiou 
was  known  iiere  it  was  that  of  some  Iroquois  tribe,  but 
it  is  not  likely  that  t-ven  the  family  life  of  a  savage 
went  on  under  any  tree  of  ours.  This  was  the  frontier, 
as  the  boundary  line  between  the  northern  Indians  and 
the  Irocpiois  was  drawn  through  Rock  Duuder,  near 
Burlington,  about  thirty  miles  to  the  north.  This  unide 
of  Lake  ("hamplaiij  iu>thing  Imt  a  war-path,  roamed 
over  by  painted  warriors  who  had  left  wives  and  chil- 
dren in  tiieir  villages  upon  the  Mohawk  or  the  iSt, 
Lawrence. 


in  STORY  OF  WKSTPOirr  83 

]>at  had  there  been  eyes  to  see,  luauy  a  sight  worth 
seeiuji;,  many  a  si<:;ht  to  stir  one's  blood,  to  start  a  tear 
or  a  (rry  of  rage,  went  past  these  shores.  War-parties 
of  Frejich  and  Indians  swejit  by,  upon  the  winter  ice, 
with  snow  shoes  and  sledges,  or  in  fleets  of  bark 
canoes  in  summer,  returning  again  with  trophies  of 
wretched  prisoners  and  bloody  scalps.  Bands  of  Dutch 
or  English,  always  with  their  horde  of  Indian  allies, 
were  sent  out  in  retaliation  for  these  forays,  and  but 
r«versed  the  grim  order.  Thus,  twenty  years  after  the 
death  of  Jogues,  a  nobleman  of  France,  Lord  de  Cour- 
celles,  sent  from  the  court  of  the  king  to  goyern  Canada, 
with  that  thirst  for  wild  adventure  so  aniyersal  among 
the  French  who  came  to  the  new  world,  made  a  winter's 
march  of  three  hundred  miles  into  the  country  of  the 
I^Iohawks,  with  a  party  of  six  hundred  men.  Twice, 
indeed,  he  went  in  the  same  year,  once  in  January, 
when  our  bay  M'as  frozen  and  the  ice  covered  with  four 
feet  of  snow,  and  again  in  the  still  waters  of  September. 
It  was  he  and  his  men  whose  lives  were  saved  by  that 
same  Corlear  who  planned  and  carried  out  the 
escape  of  Father  Jogues.  In  all  the  blood}-  story, 
there  is  nothing  that  we  might  not  better  spare  than 
the  record  of  the  nobility  of  Areudt  van  Corlear,  a 
Dutchman  of  Schenectady.  The  next  summer  he  too 
]>assed  b}-,  going  to  Canada  for  a  friendly  visit  to  De 
Courcelles,  Perhaps  he  stopped  to  rest  in  Baie  des 
Koclies  Fendu,  and  drank  of  the  stream  which  runs 
into  it.     But  he  never  saw  tlie  place   again,   nor  did  he 


if4  .     ni STORY  OF  WFSTPOJH' 

reach  Catuula,  but  was  drowneil  "while  crossin^i,^  a  L-ii-e 
bay,"  Avhich  is  believed  to  meau  WiUsboro  ba}" 

The  Schujleis  ofteu  looked  upou  our  shores.  la 
1G90  John  Schuyler,  grandfather  of  that  Philip  Selmy- 
ler  of  the  Pvevolution  who  looked  upou  them  oftoner 
still,  went  down  the  lake  to  Canada,  camping  "a  mile 
beyoud  Cruyn  Puint,"  us  he  says,  sturdify  makin- 
the  name  as  Duteli  as  he  was  able,  and  then'  returned 
from  a  successful  raid  against  the  enemv.  The  next 
summer  Major  Peter  Schuyler  met  his  Indian  allies  at 
Crown  Point,  and  went  and  returned  likewise.  To  the 
stretch  of  shore  which  we  now  call  the  lake  front  of 
Westpo)-t,  one  war  party  was  only  like  another,  and  we 
need  not  give  details  of  all. 

History  begins  to  close  in  around  this  bit  of  earth  in 
which  our  interest  now  centers,  with  the  approach  of 
the  first  home  life  in  the  Champlaiu  valley.  This  was 
in  the  3'rench  \illage  at  Crown  J.'oint. 

The  French  took  possessiiMi  of  the  peninsula  of 
Crown  Point  and  fortified  it  in  liai.  These  were  the 
first  fortifications  ever  built  u]ion  the  lake,  and  this 
act  first  made  coloni^^atiou  possible.  A  fort  and  a  rra,- 
rison  of  soldiers  mean  as  much  security  as  anv  place 
between  Albany  and  Montreal  could  at  that  timeafi^.r.l. 
A  good  stone  fort,  called  Fort  St.  Frederic,  (name.l 
after  the  French  Secretary  of  War,  Frederic 
Maurepas,)  was  built  close  to  the  water's  ed-^t^ 
and  thirty  men  were  sent  to  keep  it.  Almost  at  the' 
samo  time  came  French  colonists  from  Canada  and  set- 
tled on  both  .1.  ..s,  as    near  the    hut    as   possible.      A 


nisroRY  OF  WKSTPOur  ss 

little  village  lay  poutll-^\■e^^fc  of  the  fort,  ou  the  shore  of 
the  bay,  with  comfortable  houses  and  barns.  In 
tweutv  vears'  time  tliere  v/ere  fourteen  farms  occupied 
within  the  j)rotection  of  Fort  St.  Frederic.  All  the 
records  of  the  time  contain  frequent  reference  to  this 
.-L'ttlement.  Here,  then,  were  near  neighbors  of  West- 
]><»rt,  even  thouprh  Westport  was  not  yet,  nor  would  be 
i.>r  the  space  of  another  j];enevation.  Doubtless  the 
hunters  and  trappers  of  the  village  hunted  deer  and 
uioose,  panther  and  bear,  wolf  and  lynx,  upon  our  ter- 
ritory, and  trapped  the  beaver  and  mink  and  otter  upon 
tlie  Hammond  and  the  Stacy  brooks,  and  learned  every 
turn  of  our  points  and  bays  by  heart. 

The  same  year  the  French  made  a  rough  map  of  the 
lake,  which  was  perfected  the  next  year,  and  is  still 
known  as  "the  Quebec  map."  This  was  by  no  means 
the  first  map  made  of  this  region,  but  it  was  the  first 
\vhich  could  be  called  complete. 

The  Iroquois  were  the  most  intellectual  of  all  the  In- 
diiins  known  to  the  white  men.  Their  mental  capacity 
was  quite  sntiicieut  for  the  making  and  understanding 
')f  a  rude  map,  if  their  necessities  required  it.  We  can 
easily  imagine  some  old  and  infirm  chief,  too  feeble  tf> 
Ic-iid  the  young  men  of  his  tribe  to  the  hunting  grounds 
or  the  battle  fields  of  Cauiadare  Guarante,  tracing  upon 
the  ground,  or  upon  a  sheet  of  birch  bark,  the  outline 
of  these  shores.  In  lattr  days,  after  the  coming  of  the 
whites,  such  maps  were  sometimes  preserved  by  being 
woven  into  the  pattern  of  a  belt  of  wampum.  But  no 
<loubt  we  may  say  that  with  the  coming  of  Champlain 


6^6'  HISTORY  OF  WEST  PORT 

ill  1G09  came  the  first  nin])-m;ikei'.  His  maj)  of  the 
bike  which  he  sent  to  France  in  1G12  is  the  first  cue 
kuowii.  After  him,  the  Jesuit  missionaries  often  drew 
maps  of  their  journeyings  to  make  clear  the  reports 
sent  home  to  their  superiors.  But  the  first  actual  sur- 
vey, with  au}'  claim  to  exactness,  was  made  at  the  time 
of  the  establishment  of  the  first  military  post. 

The  French  engineers  did  their  work  well,  and  the 
Quebec  map  was  a  very  good  one.  Upon  it  were  based 
grants  of  laud  from  the  king,  but  we  do  not  find  record 
of  any  portion  of  our  soil  being  grauted  to  any  individ- 
ual by  the  French  king.  They  named  our  bay,  and 
drew  its  outline  with  careful  CNActuess,  but  had  no 
reason  to  penetrate  the  interior. 


IT. 

Fi'eiieli  and  iTidian  ^Var. 

Tlie  lake  was  now  no  longer  the  battle-ground  for 
waning  tribes  of  red  men.  The  Iroquois  and  the 
Huron  still  threaded  tiie  forest  or  paddled  over  the 
water  in  pursuit  of  his  enemy,  with  a  ferocity  unabatetl, 
but  now  he  went  always  as  the  emissary  of  English  or 
of  French,  sent  out  to  further  their  schemes.  Kings  in 
Europe  desired  conquest,-  terrified  colonies  desired  of 
all  things  security  from  foes  near  at  hand,  and  these 
two  forces  drove  onward  in  their  course  until  they 
brouglit  aV)out  the  Fieucli  and  Indian  war,  so  named 
bv  tiie  English  from  the   two  foes  against  whom'  thev 


IIJSrORY  OF  WESTPOUT  87 

r>ii^'ht.  Not  Uiat  the  French  alone  eniployeil  Indian 
nllios,  for  the  Euglit;h  used  every  means  to  brin^^  into 
the  tiehl  those  Indians  who  remained  faithful  to  their 
(MUg'^  notably  the  Mohawks  under  the  inflaence  of 
AVilliam  Johnson, — afterward  Sir  William,  made  a  baro- 
net as  a  reward  for  servi(?e  dnrinf;  this  war. 

In  August  of  1755  Baron  Dieskau  came  from  Canada 
uith  a  large  force  of  men  in  boats  and  canoes,  rowing 
up  the  lake  to  Crown  Point,  They  came  through  the 
Narrows,  past  the  -Painted  llocks,  acroSiPi  the  bay  to  BlulV 
point,  past  the  light-house  point,  and  so  onward,  land, 
iug  their  fleet  of  boats  in  Bulwagga  bay.  The  villagers 
tlnoked  to  the  landing  to  see,  and  the  soldiers  of  the 
garrison  were  drawn  up  and  stood  in  military  ar- 
ray to  receive  the  army  of  Dieskau.  There  were 
a  few  hundred-  of  the  wlijte  uniforms  of  regulars  from 
France,  the  only  efficient  part  of  the  arujy,  as  events 
piuved.  vs-itli  a  large  force  of  tlio  Canadian  soldiery,  and 
Use  Indian  allies.  The  latter  v/ere  hideous  in  war- 
paint and  feathers,  and  insolent  in  their  demeanor, 
-swarming  over  the  fort  and  the  village,  and  looking 
with  especial  awe  at  the  cannon  upon  the  ramparts, 
which  tiiey  feared  more  than  anything.  Dieskau  was 
Ui'ver  aide  entirely  to  conceal  his  dislike  of  the  savages, 
and  ihey  would  nev^ur  do  his  will  as  they  did  that  of 
Johnson  or  of  Frautenac. 

Onward  mm-ed  the  motley  army,  and  on  the  eighth 
of  Septemlier  the  battle  of  Lake  George  was  fought. 
Then  b^>gau  to -come  back  straggling  bands  of  Canadi- 
ans, with  some  of  the  Vihit.^  couts,  but  jiot  so  many,  as 


88  HISTORY  OF  WEST  PORT 

the  regulars  iiloiie  liad  faced  tlie  enemy  with  steadiness 
and  they  had  paid  dearly  for  their  fidelity.  All  the  fu- 
gitives told  one  tale  :  Dieskau  wounded  and  taken  pris- 
oner, the  army  routed,  the  English  pursuing.  It  was 
all  true  except  the  last,  but  Crown  Point  and  Ticonde- 
roga  never  doubted  it.  The  swiftest  rowers  were  hur- 
lied  instantly  into  boats  with  messages  for  Vaudreuil, 
governor  of  Canada,  and  these  messages  in  turn  brought 
reinforcements  to  the  fort  at  Crown  Point,  and  to  the 
entrenchments  at  Ticonderoga,  now  strengthened  in 
hot  haste. 

That  v.as  a  winter  of  terror  and  danger  at  Crown 
Point.  TJie  French  held  the  fort  in  daily  expectation 
of  an  attack  from  tlie  English,  who  lay  at  the  head  of 
Lake  George,  continually  sending  out  scouting  parties 
down  Lake  George  and  through  the  hills  and  forests 
back  of  the  ft^rts,  to  lie  in  ambush  arid  fall  upon  strng- 
gler.s  from  the  garrison. 

Wiiile  the  two  armies  lay  facing  each  other,  with  the 
length  of  Lake  George  between  them,  the  English  at 
the  head  of  the  lake,  at  Fort  AVilliam  Henry,  and  the 
French  at  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point,  scouts  were 
constantly  sent  out  from  both  armies  to  annoy  the 
enemy  and  to  ravage  all  the  frontier.  On  the  part  of 
tlie  French  these  scouts  were  mostly  Indian.s.  Their 
mode  of  warfiue  was  ."x.-ietly  suited  to  such  a  task,  and 
it  was  the  only  way  in  v.  hich  they  were  of  any  service 
to  the  Fn-nch.  us  they  almost  invariably  refused  to 
stand  upof.  th,.  bafth-  Ihdd.  The  English  Jiad  nobody 
of  Lidi.ui  s-out-.  but  th.  y  had  instead   the  corps  of  the 


Ill  STORY  OF  WKsrroirr  sa 

Nru-  Hampsliiie  Fv;ulOL■^•^^.  The  le;ulei-  of  these  was  one 
IJitbert  Ro^i'i'S,  a  brav  and  harJv  man,  who  loved  the 
wuods  and  tlie  woods^nian'y  life.  Tiievt-  were  aUo. 
John  Stark,  who  came  from  Rogers'  own  town  of  Londoii- 
tltrry,  Necs  Hampshire,  tind  Capt,  Israel  Rntnam.  from 
Connecticut.  AH  the  rangers  were  ])icked  men,  perfect 
ill  wood-craft  and  in  the  arts  of  forest  warfare.  Ito^- 
cr.^.  it  is  said,  had  been  a  smug<i;ler  before  the  war,  and 
had  smuggled  French  goods  into  the  British  colonies 
through  the  Champlaiu  valley.  Thus  he  had  learned 
every  turn  of  the  .shores  of  the  lakes,  their  islands,  and 
the  mountains,  streams  and  valleys  as  perhaps  no  other 
niuii  f>f  his  generation  knew  them.  He  and  his  com- 
]iauions  knew  the  shores  of  Westport  as  well  as  tl.ey 
are  known  to-day.  When  the  corps  was  formed,  Rog- 
ers was  twentv-eight  years  old.  and  Stark  was  tweiity- 
s»-\tu.  Putnam  was  t)lder,  being  thirty-seven.  Three 
years  Ijefore  this  time  Stark  had  been  carried  through 
tiie  lake,  a  ca]}tive  to  the  St.  Francis  Indians,  and  was 
afterwanls  ransome<l. 

After  this  war  was  over,  Rogers  went  toLcuulon,  and 
there  printed  his  journal,  ccuitaining  an  account  of  his 
military  service  around  Lake  George  ami  Lake  Cham- 
plain.  His  regular  re]>(irts  to  his  superiors,  usually  ad- 
•  he.ssed  to  Sir  W'illianj  Johnson,  Commander  in  Chief 
f  f  the  l^rovitcial  Fences,  have  also  been  preserved,  and 
Hgree  in  all  main  points  with  the  printed  diary.  It  \^ 
interesting  to  notice  indicati<ins  of  the  man's  character 
ih  the  minor  ditierences.  Thus  in  his  report  to  his  su- 
I'f-rior,  made  imnii-diately  ;i[ter  his  I'etuni  from  a  scout," 


00  IlISTORV  OF  WKSTPORT 

.Mud  ofteu  signed  by  some  of  his  officers  as  weW  as  by 
himself,  he  gave  due  credit  to  each  man  for  tlie  part  lie 
liad  taken  in  the  duties  and  daugei's  oi  tlie  expedition. 
Bat  in  ilie  printed  journal  lie  is  very  likely  to  omit  all 
mention  of  the  share  taken  by  others  in  a  daring  deet''. 
Thus  iu  his  story  of  a  scout  to  Crown  Point,  sent  out  in 
October  of  1755,  when  he  and  four  of  his  men  lay  iu 
ambusli  near  the  fort,  lie  says  :  "About  ten  o'clock  a 
single  man  marched  out  directly  towards  our  ambush. 
When  I  perceived  him  within  ten  yards  of  me,  I  sprung 
over  the  log  and  met  him,  and  ofiered  him  Cjuarters, 
which  he  refused,  and  made  a  pass  at  me  with  a  dirk, 
whicli  I  avoided,  and  presented  mj^  fusee  to  his  breast  ; 
but  notwithstanding,  hu  still  pushed  on  'with  resolu- 
tion and  obliged  me  to  dispatch  him." 

In  his  report  to  Johnson  there  is  no  essential  ditier- 
ence  to  this,  except  that  he  says  :  "Then  I  with  another 
man  ran  up  to  him  to  capture  him,  but  he  refused  to 
take  quarters,  so  we  killcil  him  and  took  his  scalp.  i:i 
plain  sight  of  the  fort,  tht^n  ran,  and  iu  plain  view, 
about  twenty  rods,  and  made  our  escape." 

Telling  his  story  to  tiie  Londcni  public,  through  his 
book,  it  did  not  seem  quite  necessary  to  mention  the 
other  man  who  helped  him  kill  the  Frenchman,  much 
less  to  give  his  name,  which  was,  as  we  know  frDin 
other  recu-ds,  Ca}>t,  Israel  Putnam.  On  the  other 
hand,  he  felt  it  wise  to  leave  out  th3  little  detail 
of  the  scalping.  It  was  always  ditHcnlt  to  induce 
the  English  peoj)le  to  look  with  any  degree  of  favor 
upon  the  i)racti.:e  •.!'  scalping,  wh-thor  done  bv  red  m  vu 


f/iSTO/n'  OF  WKSTj'Oirr  ui 

or  wliite,  a>  Bnr^'ovue  fouiKl  out  some  yetirs  later. 
l!ut  iu  a  report  to  Johnson,  who  seemed  himself  to  have 
the  very  soul  of  an  Indian,  and  whc»  would  most  cer- 
tainly have  gloried  in  scalpin<^  the  slain  Frenchman 
exactly  as  did  Iionjors  himself,  it  was  quite  a  ditl'erejit 
matter.  In  another  place  in  his  journal  lioj^ers  tells 
of  an  Enp;lish  soklier  killed  and  scalped  by  the  Indians, 
remarkinp;  piously  in  a  parenthesis,  '-such  is  their  bar- 
harous  custom."  Tlie  truth  is  that  all  the  Kmgers 
njade  war  as  ^ntich  like  Indians  as  possible,  and 
thonf];h  it  is  all  too  dreadful  for  thought  to  dwell  upon,  it 
is  only  right  to  remember  that  this  retaliation  in  kind 
was  believed  to  serve  a  real  juirpose  in  the  intimidation 
of  the  savages. 

liogers  and  his  men  traversed  the  territory  of  West- 
port,  b}'  laud  or  water,  sis  ditt'erent  times,  as  told  dis- 
tinctly in  his  diary,  in  three  scouts  which  went  out  from 
the  head  of  Lake  George  aiid  returned.  The  first  is 
recorded  in  his  Jouriial  as  follows  : 

"February  20,  175(5. — Agreeable  to  orders  from  Col. 
Olasier,"  (then  commanding  at  Fort  William  Henry,) 
"I  this  day  n)arched  with  a  party  of  fifty-six  men  down 
tlie  west  si<le  of  Lake  George.  We  continued  our  route 
liorthward  till  the  fifth  of  March,  and  then  steered  east 
to  Lake  Cljamplain,  about  six  miles  north  of  Crown 
Point,  where  by  the  intelligence  we  had  from  the  In- 
dians we  expected  to  find  some  inhabited  villages.  We 
then  attemfited  to  cross  the  lake,  hut  found  the  ice  too 
^veak.  The  17th  A\e  returned  and  marched  round  bv 
tJif  bav  to  th-j  west  of  Ciown  Foint,  and   at  night  got 


92  HISTORY  OF  WESirORT 

into  the  cleared  land  among  their  houses  and  barus. 
Here  we  formed  au  ambush,  expecting  their  lal,>fnuers 
out  to  tend  their  cattle  and  clean  their  graiu,  of  which 
there  were  several  barns  full.  Wo  continued  there  that 
night,  and  next  day  till  dark;  when  discovering  none 
of  the  enemy,  we  set  firu  to  the  houses  and  barns,  and 
marched  oft'." 

The. route  of  this  expeditiou  was  not  like  that  of  any 
other  scout  sent  out  that  year,  as  it  v.eut  farther  vest 
than  any  of  them.  Perhaps  the  Rangers  went  by  way 
of  Schroou  and  the  western  parts  of  Crown  Point  and 
Moriah,  following  down  the  valley  of  the  Boquet  until 
Rogers'  familiarity  Avith  the  mountain  passes  showed 
bim  the  best  place  to  strike  off  to  the  shore  of  the  lake. 
It  seems  more  probable  that  the  little  party  came 
along  the  highlands  of  Moriah  to  a  place  not  far  from 
the  present  Mineville,  and  there  turned  ofi  over 
the  north  shoulder  of  Bald  Peak,  following  down  the 
course  of  ]\Iulleiu  l)rook  as  our  "Raid  Peak  road"  now 
follows  it.  Tills  would  bring  them  (Hit  at  "Stevenson's." 
"About  six  miles  north  of  Crown  Point"  would  mean  at 
the  place  where  we  now  find  the  Presbrey  camp,  or  Oak 
Point.  Here  Roger.^  expected  to  find  villages  which 
lie  might  burn,  but  either  the  Indians  had  deceived 
him,  or  the  inhal)itants  had  fled  to  tlie  fort  or  to  Can- 
ada. If  the  Indians^ had  t(.>ld  the  truth,  and  the  latter 
was  the  case,  then  liessl>()ro  was  inhabited  before  the 
French  and  Indian  war. 

For  tsVelve  days  the  Piangois  remained  north   of   the 
ft  rt,  piv  Mimably  uptu   Westport   territoiy.      Why    was 


jiist(>i:y  of  wkstport  os 

)iot  Ilo;Ters  more  descriptive  iu  regard  to  the  dryings  of 
tlio^e  twelve  days?  Did  tljey  discover  Xielxils  Puud '? 
Did  tliey  stand  by  the  falls  of'  the  Boquet?  Did  they 
raijip  in  sight  of  the  island  of  Father  Jogues  ?  If  th-y 
.iivl,  we  may  be  sure  they  knew  little  enough  about 
him,  for  these  men  of  Puritan  blood  were  taught  no 
svuipathy  witli  au3thing  liiat  savored  of  the  Scarlet 
Woman.  I  have  no  doubt  that  they  tried  to  cross  the 
lake  at  Barber's  Point,  as  that  was  the  narrc.iwest  place, 
b.it  the  spring  of  1756  must  have  been  an  earl}-  oue, 
since  the  ice  was  too  weak  to  bear  them  in  the  middle 
of  March.  If  they  could  luive  crossed  the  lake  they 
wcnild  have  saved  themselves  some  hard  mountain 
traveling  back  to  Fort  William  Henry. 

Tlie  second  time  that  they  came  to  Westport  was 
the  next  July,  and  this  was  one  of  the  most  exciting 
scouts  that  the  Piangers  ever  undertook. 

"About  this  time,"  says*  the  Journal,  the  "General 
augmented  my  c<:)uipany  to  seventy  men,  and  sent  me  six 
light  whale  bouts  from  Albiiuy,  with  orders  to  proceed 
immediately  to  Lake  Champ) aiu,  to  cut  off,  if  possible, 
the  ju'ovisious  aid  flying  parties  of  the  enemy.  Ac- 
cordingly, June  'IS,  175G,  I  embarked  with  fifty  meu  in 
live  whale  boats,  and  proceeded  to  an  island  in  Lake 
(ieorge.  The  next  day,  at  about  five  miles  distance 
from  this  island,  we  landed  our  boats  and  carried  them 
about  six  miles  over  a  mountain  to  South  Bay,  where 
we  arrived  the  third  of  July.  Tlie  fcjllowing  evening 
we  embarked  again,  and  went  down  the  bay  to 
within  six  miU-s  of  the  FrciK-h  Uivi,  wh.'rn  we  coiK^^aled 


94  HISTORY  OF  WKSTPORT 

our  boats  till  the  eveuiug.  We  then  embarked  again, 
aud  passed  by  Ticonderoga  undiscovered,  though  we 
were  so  near  the  enemy  a^  to  hear  their  ceutry's  watcli- 
word.  About  five  miles  further  dov,'u  we  agaiu  con- 
cealed our  boats  and  lay  by  all  day.  At  night  we  put 
oft'  agaiu,  with  a  design  to  pass  by  Crown  Point,  but 
afterward  judged  it  iniprudeut  by  means  of  the  clear- 
ness of  the  night,  so  lay  concealed  ar;ain  the  next  day, 
when  near  a  hundred  boats  passed  by  us,  seven  of 
which  came  very  near  the  point  where  we  were.  About 
nine  o'clock  at  night  we  reirabarked,  and  passed  the 
fort  at  -Crown  Point,  and  again  concealed  our  boats  at 
about  ten  miles  distance  from  it."  That  is,  very  prob- 
ably, upon  the  point  south  of  the  Baie  des  Roches  Fen- 
dus,  which  we  now  call  Bluff  point.  They  drew  up 
their  boats  just  "at  break  of  day,"  having  goue  as  far 
as  they  dared  in  the  short  summer  night. 

The  boats  were  conecnled  in  the  underbrush  friug 
ing  the  shore,  while  the  men  slept  under  the  trees 
all  day.  Sentinels  were  posted  where  they  could 
command  the  lake,  and  never  keener  eyes  peered 
out  from  the  thick  hjliage,  nor  quicker  ears  list- 
ened for  every  sound.  Watching  was  no  dull  business 
on  that  day,  (the  seventh  of  July,)  for  thirty  boats  hom 
the  French  forts  went  by  toward  Canada,  aud  a  schooner 
of  about  thirty  or  hu'ty  tons.  The  Kangers  were  too 
near  Crown  Point  to  dare  an  attack,  aud  besides,  it 
was  their  especial  purj^oso  to  intercept  boats  coming 
from  Canada,  laden  with  provisions.  All  day  they 
slei)t  aud  watclKMl,  a:ul  in  the  evening  slid   their  boats 


iiisTom'  or  w'KSTro/rr  .v.5 

i:!t(.  the  water  tiiul  rowed  .-nvay  to  the  ututh.  "About 
i'fti'eu  luih.s  further  tlown,"  which  was  somewhere  he- 
twecu  Split  Rock  and  the  mouth  of  the  luxjuet,  tliey 
hiiJileJ  again.  The  next  (hiy  they  had  their  oppor- 
tuuitv.  Two  lighters,  maimed  with  twelve  men  and 
headed  witli  wheat,  tiour,  rice,  wine  and  brandy  for  the 
I'^'eueli  forts,  were  captured  and  suuk,  and  four  of  the 
ue-u  killed.  One  of  these  was  dispatched  after  having 
been  made  prisoner,  when  it  became  plain  that  he  was 
wciunded  so  sevei'ely  that  he  was  unable  to  walk.  This 
fact  Rogers  did -not  i>arade  before  his  London  audience, 
i;or  that  they  took  back  with  them  four  scalps  as  well 
its  eight  prisoners  to  Fort  William  Henry,  but  it  wa8 
all  duly  reported  to  his  chief. 

It  was  learned  from  the  prisoners  that  they  belonged 
to  ;i  force  of  live  hundred  men,  whicli  was  making  its 
xwiy  as  rnpidh-  as  ])ossiV»le  to  Crown  Point.  Fifty  men 
cduld  not  face  five  hundred,  and  if  the}-  launched  their 
!'>'ats  they  were  sure  to  be  seen  and  pursued.  Now  ap- 
pears the  reason  why  they  had  always  landed  for  con- 
ct-alment  upon  the  western  shore, — so  that  if  they  were 
<^'bliged  to  abandon  their  boats  they  might  return  to  the 
hat  through  Uiountaiu  })aths  familiar  to  them  but  un- 
ktiown  to  tlie  enemy.  So  they  hid  their  boats  in  the 
vi'  'I'ds,  with  some  kegs  ()f  brandy  which  they  had  saveil 
froui  tlje  cajitured  lighters,  and  made  their  way  l:>ack  to 
tiie  head  of  Like  G-orge,  being  about  a  week  on  the 
w  ay. 

It  was  now  necessary  that  another  ex))edition  should 
I  '    iindeitaken   to   recover    tlie   boats  ajid  the    brandv, 


96  HISTORY  OF  WE  ST  PORT 

if  possible.  Accordingly,  on  t]\e  sixteeiitli  of  Aupjust, 
the  third  and  last  scout  of  this  year  Avliich  traversed 
Westport  laud  set  out  from  Fort  William  Heury.  It 
weut  in  two  departments,  one  commanded  by  Kogers 
and  the  other  by  Stark.  They  were  also  accompanied 
by  thirty  of  the  Stockbrid«.^e  Indians,  who  had  lately 
come  into  camp,  and  by  eight  Mohawks.  "We  then 
raaiched,"  says  Kogers,  "directly  to  the  place  where  we 
left  our  whale  boats  the  seventh  of  July,  proceeding 
about  twenty-five  miles  northward  to  Crown  Point  fort 
on  the  west  side  of  Lake  Champlaiu."  They  found  the 
boats  as  they  had  left  them,  though  no  mention  is  made 
of  the  brandy.  Perhajis  even  the  civilized  Stockbridge 
Indians  could  not  be  trusted  within  reach  of  liquor,  and 
surely  no  Mohawk  could  be,  even  on  the  war-path. 
They  embarked  in  the  boats,  which  proves  that  the 
party  could  not  have  numbered  more  than  fifty  men, 
unless  some  of  them  \\ore  sent  back  by  land.  Tliev  re- 
turned safely  up  the  lake,  but  this  time  no  perilous  pas- 
sage of  the  forts  was  attempted.  Tho  French  had  re- 
ceived reinforcements  since  the  Kaugershad passed  them 
before,  and  perhaps  a  better  watch  was  kept.  At  any 
rate,  we  may  trust  llogvn-s  and  Stark  to  have  umh.'r- 
stood  what  were  tho  chances  of  success,  and  they  did 
not  undertake  it.  Besides,  they  had  as  yet  no  prisonei, 
and  this  was  one  bf  the  main  objects  oi  every  scout, 
both  as  a  means  of  obtaining  information,  and  to  render 
themselves  constantly  feared  amotig  the  French  settle- 
ments. So  they  landed  on  the  east  shore,  hid  their 
boats  eiglit  luil.'s  n-nth  of  Cr<nvn.  Paint,  and  succeeded 


HISTORY  OF  WK  ST  PORT  97 

in  taking  some  prisonevs  in  the  village  on  Chimney 
r.)int,  opposite  the  fort,  with  whom  they  returuetl. 

The  ]laiigerj4  never  recovered  their  boats.  On  Oc- 
toher  twenty-seventh  a  sentinel  was  captured  under  the 
very  walls  of  FortTiconderoga,  who  told  them  "that  the 
French  had  taken  four  of  Captain  Rogers'  whale  boats 

in  Lake  Champlain," which    does  not  account  for 

tho  fifth  boat.  Tlie  discovevy  of  these  boats  tinew  the 
French  into  a  great  state  of  dismay  and  consternation. 
'Jhey  were  no  birch  bark  canoes,  but  large  and  well 
made  craft,  each  one  capable  of  carrying  ten  men,  and 
tlio  French  reasoned  that  it  was  manifestly  impossible 
tiiat  such  a  flotilla  ci)uld  have  escaped  the  observation  of 
the  sentinels  at  the  two  forts.  "Therefore,"  said  they, 
"there  must  be  some  water  passage,  unknown  to  us, 
which  leads  from  Lake  George  to  Lake  Champlain." 
.\nd  they  sent  out  parties  with  the  express  purpose  of 
discovering  this  passage. 

After  this,  the  power  of  France  pushed  more  and 
more  determinedly  from  the  north,  the  forts  were  more 
strongly  garrisoned,  and  the  Rangers  had  more  to  do 
ii^-ar  their  own  posts.  Consequently,  none  of  their 
-^couts  reached  again  as  far  north  as  the  soil  of  West- 
l.ort.' 

The  winter  ()f  1757  saw  a  force  of  Canadians  and  I:i- 
'lians  go  by  on  the  ice,  dragging  sledges,  and  well 
••'luippedfor  an  attack  on  Fort  William  Henry — the  af- 
fair of  St.  Patrick's  Day.  Then  it  came  back,  toiling 
through  three  feet  of  snow,  a  large  numljer  of  the  party 
--truck  snowljjiud  andlt'dby  the  hand,  v^'itli  no  jn'isoners 


9S  HISTORY  OF  WESri'OJiT 

hiul  no  vietuiy  wortli  boasting.  Bat  the  nest  suiuaur 
came  serious  busiue?;s  indeed. 

Up  to  this  time,  no  such  army  had  ever  pas>;(;d 
throuf,di  Westport  waters  as  that  which  Montcalm 
gathered  at  Ticonderoga  during  the  month  of  July. 
Six  thousand  white  men  and  two  thousand  red,  moved 
on  to  the  siege  and  massacre  of  Foit  William  Henrv. 
Let  us.be  thatdcful  tliat  it  is  no  part  of  our  storv  to 
tell  over  again  that  tale.  Only  in  one  particular  does 
it  come  within  our  circle  of  interest.  It  may  be  tliat 
William  Gilliland  was  present  at  that  massacre. 

Says  Watson,  in  "Pioneers  of  the  Ohamplaiu  Valley," 
"the  26th  regiment  of  the  line,  to  which  Gilliland  was 
attached,  formed  the  ill-fated  garrison  of  PVjrt  WilliaUi 
Henry  in  1757,  which  suffered  so  fearfully  in  the  mas- 
sacre by  the  Indians  under  Gen.  Montcalm.  Whether 
Gilliland  v.-as  {>rosent  at  tliat  ca,lamitous  event  I  have 
no  means  of  ascertaining,  but  his  silence  ('>u  such  a  sub- 
ject warrants  the  presumption  that  he  was  not." 

It  is  like  Watson's  grave  punctiliousness  that  he  re- 
fuses to  state  as  a  fact  anything  wliich  cannot  be  absr.- 
lutelv  })roviHl,  but  surely  the  probabilities  are  great  that 
Gilliland  was  theie.  His  discharge,  given  at  Philadel- 
phia in  17.>S,  certifies  that  "William  Gillilau  hath  served 
honestly  and  faithfully  for  the  space  of  four  ^-ears.''  It  is 
well  known  that  <iillihind  received  a  grant  of  laud  near 
Split  Piock  in  return  for  his  services  in  the  "Old  French 
War,"  an.l  that  his  tirst  acquaintance  with  the  sh(M-e.- 
of  Lake  Ghamplain  dates  fiom  the  time  \vhen  he  was 
a  soldi. M-  in   th.^    I'-riti^h   aimv.     Put   ''luav   have"   and 


IIJHTURY  OF  WE.srrORT  90 

"u'")t  impossible"  are  not  very  satisfactory  substitutes 
for  liistory.  ^Yllat  we  do  know  certaiuly  is  that  after 
the  surreuder  and  tlie  massacre,  for  many  a  sad  day, 
these  shores  saw  the  hake  full  of  boats  laden  with  plun- 
der from  the  garrison  and  with  hundreds  of  captives 
ht-in^  hurried  aw;iy  to  Canada.  Oaly  a  week  after  the 
massacre  Montcalm  himself  went  by,  carrying  his  bur- 
den of  threatened  disgrace,  and  leaving  the  frontitn-  to 
a  winter  of  little  incident.  The  nest  Juno  he  came 
again,  but  the  fleet  that  covered  the  water,  rowing  auil 
-^ ailing  onward  in  martial  array,  carried  an  army  not  so 
large  as  that  of  the  summer  before.  In  July  was  fought 
the  Battle  of  Ticonderoga,  where  four  thousand  men 
i)ehind  entrenchments  said  to  sixteen  thousand,  "Thus 
far  and  no  farther,"  and  tlien  Montcalm  sailed  past 
once  more,  and  looked  his  last  upon  our  nn^uutaius  and 
our  bay. 

After  the  repulse  of  Abercrombie,  Israel  Putnam 
was  captured  by  the  Indians  in  a  skirmish,  and  carried 
to  Canada,  liound  with  cords  he  went,  blackened  with 
the  smoke  of  the  tiro  which  the  savages  had  built  to 
I'uru  him  alive,  only  giving  up  their  purpose  upon  the 
intervention  of  a  French  officer,  with  afresh  gash  upon 
his  cheek,  but  still  looking  with  eager  eyes  and  una- 
bated spirit  upon  the  freedom  of  our  hills.  If  his  cap- 
tors camped  for  a  uigiit  u[)Oii  the  island  of  Button 
Mould  Bay,  I'utnam  might  have  had  a  vision,  as  he  lay 
slt.'cping  beneath  the  stars,  with  the  sound  of  the  lap- 
ping water  in  his  ears,  of  another  century,  and  of  a  de- 
scendant of  his  own   ujxj-n  the  same    inland,    slf^eping 


100  niisTuiiY  OF  WESTJ'ujrr 

witli  the  same  souiul  woveu  into  the  fabric  of  bis 
dreams.  In  the  autumn  the  hardy  Ranger  was  ex- 
changed, and  lived  to'  fi^lit  Eughind  as  fiercely  as  ever 
he  fought  France. 

Another  year,  and  Amherst  advanced  upon  Ticonde- 
roga  from  the  south.  On  the  evening  of  July  26, 1759,  a 
teri*ific  explosion  resounded  over  lake  and  forest  for  many 
&  league.  Boulamarque  had  blown  up  the  fort  at  Ti- 
conderoga  and  retreated  to  Crown  Point.  Here  he  did 
the  same  thing,  and  moved  away  to  the  north,  and  with 
him  went  the  domination  of  France  from  our  laud  and 
water.  Never  again  iioated  the  flag  of  the  fear  de  lis 
from  the  bastions  of  St.  Frederic.  The  villagers,  who 
liad  suffered  so  much  from  the  bullet  and  torch  of  tlie 
Rangers,  either  loaded  their  household  goods  into 
bateaux  and  f(jllowed  the  army,  or  chose  to  remain  an  1 
face  the  chances  of  life  under  the  cross  of  Sc.  George. 

Amherst  came  deliberately  on,  and  stopped  to  build 
a  new  fort  and  a  fleet  at  Crown  Point.  Then  were 
raised  the  mas-,ivt:  )amparts  and  the  barracks  whoso 
ruins  we  now  see.  It  i^^  a  fort  which  never  saw  a  battle, 
and  has  never  been  of  any  military  consequence  since 
it  was  built.  Had  Amherst  knoWh  that  he  was  sim])!y 
fashioning  a  background  for  Sunday  School  picnics! 
But  it  is  not  always  given  us  to  know  to  what  uses  our 
work  shall  be  put,  and  Amherst  v;:is  well  satisfied  with 
his.  To  no  m<>ro  ]nu-p<»se  was  his  ileet  of  boats,  for 
which  lu!  turni'd  Bulw.igga  bay  into  a  ship-yard,  as  did 
Arnold  aft.^r  liim.  On  the  eleventh  of  October  Aui- 
h'.nst  wer.t  "ii  board  hi-i  >.lo  )]>  of  sixteen  guns  and,   iic- 


HISTORY  OF  WhSr/'Oh'T  lol 

(•(.ini)aijied  by  a  brij^antiue.  a  radt-au  aiul  his  ariny  iti 
lar^e  bateaux,  set  fortli  for  the  support  of  Wolfe  at 
(^>aebee.  Ten  days  after,  and  he  is  seen  returning,  hav- 
ing h)st  twelve  boat-loads  of  sohliers  in  an  inglorious 
hattle  with  the  elements.  There  had  been  one  of  our 
Autumn  gales,  and  the  boats,  probably  very  badly 
manaj^ed,  had  foundered,  while  the  rest  of  tlie fleet  had 
S'Uif^ld  shelter  under  the  western  >;horc.  Perhaj^s  some 
of  the  rear  boats  got  no  farther  than  Northwest  Bay. 

Andierst  made  no  further  attempt  to  join  Wolfe,  and 
(^)uebec  was  taken  without  him  Septemlier  18th,  175*.'. 
Montcalm  and  Wolfe  were  both  killed,  and  the  war  was 
]iractically  ended. 

Fighting  in  the  British  army  at  this  time  was  a  man 
with  a  remarkable. history,  by  n;ime  Philip  Skene.  He 
^^as  a  Scotchman,  and  a  lineal  descendant  of  ^Villiaiu 
Wallace.  He  entered  the  army  in  1739,  and  had  a 
most  active  and  honorable  record.  He  was  in  many 
battles,  the  most  famous  of  which  was  that  of  Culloden, 
174-').  when  the  hopes  of  the  last  Stuart  pretender, 
'Bonnie  Prince  Charlie,"  were  laid  low.  He  was  a 
ciptain  in  the  army  of  Abercrombie  in  the  attack  upon 
Tii'Duderoga,  July  8,  175G,  and  was  there  wounded. 
His  regiment  was  the  2Tth,  or  the  luuiskilling  Foc»t. 
The  next  year  he  was  with  the  army  of  Amherst  when 
it  marched  into  the  dismantled  and  smoking  fort  atTi- 
comleroga,  and  he  accompanied  it  to  Crown  Point. 
When,  in  October,  Amherst  set  out  with  the  main  body 
of  his  army  to  join  Wolfe  in   Canada,  Skene  was  left 


102  jfJSTORY  or  WESrrORT 

beLiiul,  detailed  to  serve  as  Major  of  Brigade  at  Crown 
Point  under  Brigadier  Iluggles. 

Tlius  Skene  had  every  opportunity  to  become  ac- 
quainted with  the  shores  of  the  lake,  especially  at  the 
sonthe)-n  end,  and  it  was  no  doubt  while  he  was  sta- 
tioned at  Crown  Point  that  he  learned  the  value  of  the 
iron  luinc  on  the  lake  shore  which  we  now  call  "the 
Cheever,"  and  which  he  took  measures  to  secure  to 
himself  as  soon  as  j^ossiblo  at  the  close  of  the  war.  AVe 
do  not  know  that  this  bed  was  discovered  at  all  during 
the  French  occupation.  Skene  was  the  first  to  own 
and  to  work  it,  and  its  name  for  a  generation  or  more 
Mas  "Skene's  Ore  Bed."  He  founded  Skeuesboro  in 
17G1.  In  1771  he  was  granted  two  thousand  four  hun- 
dred acres  of  some  of  the  best  land  in  Westport,  which 
is  known  to  this  day  as  "Skene's  Patent."  We  mav  be 
sure  that  he  first  saw  it  that  summer  of  1759  which  he 
si)cnt  at  Crown  Point,  and  that  he  rowed  along  its 
shore  in  Northwest  liay,  looking  at  it  with  calculating 
eyes,  and  walked  over  it,  too,  thinking  how  he  would 
ask  for  a  gr;int  of  it  as  soon  as  ever  it  canie  into  the  gift 
of  the  King  of  England. 

Israel  Putnam  was  also  at  Crown  P^int  that  summer, 
a  captain  in  the  colonial  troops,  and  while  the  arrnv 
still  lay  there  Bogers  went  down  the  lake  again  for  the 
last  time,  d..-stroying  the  Indian  village  on  the  St. 
FrauL-is  river  in  Catuula.  He  came  back  to  Crown 
Point  by  way  uf  the  Connecticut  river,  but  one  of  his 
lieutenants,  McMuIlin,  with  eight  men,  returned  through 
the  wilderne^.-,  tu   Crown  Point  with  a  message  to  Am- 


HISTORY  OF  Wh'STJ'O/rr  Jo.j 

li,n>t.  Ill  ouly  uino  days  they  maJe  the  journey,  an>l 
thus  for  the  last  time  was  our  soil  traverse*.!  by  a  baud 
of  liOt:!;ers'  Pvangers. 

Would  that  we  iiiitjjht  believe  that  brave  Lieuteuant 
Ab;l\rulleij,  (or  McMulliu.  as  Watson  uses  b»)th  spell- 
ings,) gave  his  uatue  to  our  ]Mullein  brook  as  did  Israel 
rntnani  to  "Put's  creek"  in  Crown  Point.  Metliinks 
1  have  seen  an  amateur  genealogist  hail  with  joy  the 
iliscover}-  of  a  new  ancestor  on  the  strength  of  eAideuce 
a.-s  slender  as  tliat  which  we  can  bring  forward  in  sup- 
port of  this  theory.  "What  more  likely,"  etc.,  etc.  At 
any  rate,  we  might  do  a  little  toward  making  history 
more  logical,  (a  service  which  it  often  sadly  needs,) 
••^s})ecially  in  the  matter  of  the  names  of  places,  by  call- 
ing the  brook  after  him  uow.-^ 

Let  Watson  describe  for  us  the  last  scene  of  this  war. 

"On  the  IGth  of  August,  1760,  the  last  brilliant  mar- 
tial procession  of  the  war  departed  from  Crown  Point. 
pM-aring  ;ibont  three  thousand  reguhirs  and  provincials, 
under  the  comnniud  of  Colonel  Haviland,  it  moved 
down  the  lake  in  a  hnig  line  of  bateaux,  under  the  con- 
voy of  f<->ur  armed  vessels  with  an  equal  number  of 
radeaux,  each  of  which  bore  a  heavy  armament, 
llichard  Montgomery,  who  had  already'  attracted  the 
attention,  and  won  the  applause  of  Wolfe,  at  Louis- 
bourg,  accompanied  this  expedition,  as  adjutant  of  the 
Seventeenth  regiment  (*)f  foot,"t 


•In  one  of  Gilliland's  list*  of  the  tiamea  of  soldiers  who  received  from  the  crown 
grants  of  land  on  the  western  side  of  Lake  Cham  plain,  we  find  the  name  of  Patrick 
McMuilen,  thoaeh  it  it  imposbible  to  decide  the  locality  of  his  grant. 

rTfac  Treaty  of  Paris,  in  1765,  j^avc  Engly.nd  fo/u!.'.!  posseisiou  of  this  our  soil 


•    ^^'4  .  II f STORY  OF  WKSTl'ORT 

III. 

Oillilancl  and  liossboro. 

On  tlune  7tli,  1765,  our  shores  were  j^assed  by  Gilli- 
laiuVs    first    i>arty    of  colonists.     Many  an   annv   \uu\ 
made  \i>i  way  across  these  waters,  but  never  before  siu-h 
an  army  of  oocnpatiou.     Ilou.ely  and  huudrum  it  mu.t 
liave  lor.kt.d  in  cotuparison   to    tlie  -orofous    "armL-.s 
Avitli  banners"  who  had  Haunted  such  nuartial  pugeantrv 
m  the    shadow  of  our    dills.     There   were   four    hu-l 
bateaux,  heavily  loaded   witli   twenty    or   more   people, 
and  with  "eighty  barj-els  of  stores."'  T.'iere    was  also  a' 
raft  of  boards,  sawed  at   the  saw-mill  at  Tioondeio^a, 
.'UKl  there  was  a  dicve  of  cattle  which  had  been  forc^ed' 
to  swim  the  lake  at  Cnnvn  P.,int,  making  its  way  ulon- 
the  opposit,.  .hor...     Thi.s  proves  that  at  this  tinie  ther".- 
Mas    no    road    across    AVestport    fit    for    driving   cattle 
thiough.     'Jlu-re  wcie  four  white  women  with   the  eol- 
f,ni.sts,-the   uito  of    the    millwright,    the    wife    of   the 
^^eav..r.    GiUdand-s    housekeeper,    and    an    indentured 
servant  gi,l.      Clilliland's  negro  man,  Ireland,  had  been 
left  for  a  t\.w  days  at  Ticonderoga.       His  was   the    fir.^t 
bhiek  face  which  h.ok.-d  upon  A\Vst],.n-t,  but  there  weiv 
afterw^ird  others  at   Miilt<uv,i.     Slaves  played   a  htrg.r 

KnjUnd  held  U^.st  twenty  y«rs.  ^^^P^c^lTo^^^sTTirl^i^t^ri^oi^.  Uk;r.^ 
ofT.condcr»^aby  Ethan  A.lcn  a:,d  Rcn.dict  Arnold.    After  that  it  may  be  sa.d 
to  have  b..on^cd  to  .'the  Great  Jehovah  and  the  Continental  Congress"  uo.il  C-.. 
r>na!.cttlc..,tof:.eV......;..a,„,y,,i„  ,.^_     ^^^^^^  ^^^  ^.^^^    ^^^^   ^^^^ 

It  hii  belo.nte'.  to  tnc  .stjie  cf  .Ncv,-  Vo.-k. 


ifiSTojn'  OF  ]]'!■: sTroirr  jo.-, 

I>;ivt  ill  tlie  labor  of  eleariiij.;  our  l:uuls  for  settlement 
tL.'Ui  is  ofteu  realized,  since  the  foii idlers  C)f  Pl;ittsbui-gli, 
;i>  well  as  Gillilaiitl,  bionght  numbers  of  shnes  with 
llif'u  when  thev  first  eanie. 

Ihit  who  w'iis  GilliLuid,  anil  wliy  is  his  i;ame  invoked 
witli  such  confidence?  William  GilHland.  dear  strau,L:!;er, 
u.is  none  other  than  the  Pioneer  of  tlio  Champlain  Yal- 
It'V,  the  first  settler  and  colonizer  in.  all  this  wilderness 
between  Crown  Point  and  Canada.  After  the  settle- 
ment around  the  military-  p(»sts  of  Ticonderoga  and 
Ciiiwn  Point,  and  the  cohmy  at  S]cenesl)oro  at  the  ex- 
tM-me  southern  end  of  the  hd-;e,  his  settlement  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Boquet  river  (uhich  he  cahed  ]Millto\vn. 
nin.'iup;  the  township  AVillsboro)  was  the  first  haiue  of 
whili-  men  in  all  the  length  and  breadth  of  th.e  Valley. 
'llius  the  dav  just  namerl  mav  well  begin  a  new  cha]i- 
I'-i.  and  the  rude  little  licet  engage  our  attention  as  it 
Idiitrs  s  >brrly  along.  We  may  know  all  the  details  of 
tie'  expedition  from  reading  Gilliland's  diary,  preserved 
I'V  his  der,cend<iiils  and  printed  a  iiuudred  vears  after- 
NNard  by  Winshnv  C..  Watson,  in  a  book  calle.l  The  Pi- 
"U-'fr  History  of  the  (.'hamplain  A  alley.  From  this 
b-.,,k  we  leain  that  A\'iliiam  Gilliland  was,  like  Sir 
^\  illiam  Johnson,  Sir  Cray  Caileton  and  Jiiehur<l 
Montgomery.  ;in  Iri.^hman.  Ht^  was  born  neai"  Ar- 
'''■igh,  iij  the  ])rovin('e  (;f  lister,  about  the  year 
1  •••b  There  is  a  roinantie  storv  of  an  interrupted  lovi- 
i'tlair  with  a  young  and  b.-autiful  Tady  ];ets\  Eekles. 
Iiouii'-d  upon  h\  lit'i- family,  and  resnbing  in  the  emi- 
l^iatifij  of  t))e  J'iesUiiiJ'Uloiis    lowr    to    Ameiiea,       Jlere 


I'lr,                     IIIXTunv  (IF   WKSTIUiHT  j 

\ 

he  sorvt^d  four  }t';ii-s  as  ;i  private  in    tlit-    lii'itisli  ai'itiv,  J 

tii^htiiij.'  ill  the  FitMieh  aiul  Itnliau  War.      ITis  ip^iiiiciit.  | 

the  Thiity-tit'th,  fonneil  a  ])arL  of   tlie  gaiTi.S(M>    of  Fort  I 

William  Henry  ;it  the  tiiDi.^  of  its  surn-nclor  to  ^Montcalni,  ] 

iu  17.~)7.     If  he.  was  with  his  ropi;iin»;Ht   at    the   time,   In  ] 

must    have   liemi    a    witness    of    the    Indian    iiuiss-u.-r.-  j 

whieli    followe.l    the    surrender    of   the    f<.rt.      He  wa-  | 

<liseh;'r^:;t>d  from  th«  arm\    iu   IToS,  and    the    next   yt;ar  \ 

married  Elizab  'th  l^hai^an,  daui^hterof  a  rich  merch;iut  \ 

of  Jamaica.     Gilliland  received  with  his  wife  a  cousid-  | 

erable  dowry,  aud  V)ecame  his  father-in-law's  partner  i;;  i 

a  lai-^^e  nitneantile  business  in  the  city  of  New  York.  \ 

Peace  hetweeu  En.^land  and  France  was   jn'oclaiine.l  \ 

ill  IT'):],  and  it  b<-'came  possil)le  for   tlie    liritish    crouii  j 

to  «:;ivo  title  to  tlie  nnoecnpied  lands    of  the  wildiunes-;  ! 

north  and  west  of  th..'    Hnds.m    river   valley.      Enji^ra-  \ 

ti(Ui  was  eiieouraL-;ed  l)y  grants  of  land  to  soldiers  of  tli.-  \ 

ret-ent  wai-,  the  si/.(-  ol  the  giants   vai'yiriij;-  accordim^-  to  i 

the  military  rank  of  thi;  j-eeipients.     Thus  a  private  r>-  « 

ceived  tiity  aer.'s,  and   ;;    non-eommiHsioned   otiirer  tv,o  ,* 

hundi-eil    aci-es.      In    almost   everv   case    these   soldiers'  1 

{grants  we-re  sold  iminH,li,itely  to  land  speculatoi's,    mei.  j 

of  capita!  who   !)on-ht    with    tlu-    i)urpose   of  obtainiuL^  j 

lar-e  tiaets  for  sale  or  settlenuajt.  William  Clillihuid  1 
iiive.Nt.'d  the  u'ri-att-r  jiart  of  the  tortune  he  had  aceuiii- 
ulated  in  tiiH  pureha-e  of  twelve  large  tracts,  all  lorat.-d 
on  th'>  \\;,-.r.ri)  shore  of  i.ake  C'hamplain,  between 
Crown  Point  and  C'uiul  r'rhnid  Mead.  Two  of  the^.' 
tracts,  aeeording  to  .Mr.   W.itson,  lav  within  the  ))reseiit 

t-'uitoiy  of  >,ui'  touii-^hip,  and  coaipris.-d  four  tin  ui^^an^l  ,. 


HISTORY  OF  wi:srr<)irr  Ktr 

five  Iniinlred  acres.  One  tract,  lying  along  tin-  soutli- 
t-astern  shore,  and  containg  two  thousand  tlivce  hundred 
;ic-res,  he  named  ]3essbor(;,  after  his  baby  daughter 
J!li/.al)eth.  Of  lii>  ow  nership  of  a  second  tract  in  West- 
j).)rt  we  caunot  uonv  tind  theleast  trace,  but  it  seeras  ex- 
ceedingly likely  that  he  attemiited  to  purchase  the 
land  adjoining  Dessljoro  on  the  north,  gra.uted  a  few 
years  afterwa rd_  by  the  king  to  Philii)  Skene.  Tiie  uuni- 
bc-r  of  acres  in  the  Skene  patent  does  not  esactlj-  cor- 
r(.sj)(>ud,  bat  the  early  surveyors  never  let  a  little  matter 
of  two  or  three  hundred  acres  trouble  them.  Oilliland 
himself  gives  a  list  of  f(;urteen  non-commissioned  ot^i- 
c•er^  and  ten  privates  whose  claims  he  had  bought  out 
to  obtain  possessi(;n  of  the  [latent  of  Bes^boro,  appar- 
t-ntly  oblivious  of  the'discrepaucy  of  a  thousand  acres 
btfweeu  these  aggregate  claims  and  tlie  actual  survey. 

The  king  granted  'ownershi[)  of  these  large  patents 
v>  ith  the  reservation  to  himself  of  ;dl  gold  and  silver 
niines,  uud  all  jiiun  trees  lit  iov  masts  for  shijis  of  his 
navy.  There  were  also  conditions  that  three  acres  out 
of  every  fifty  caj'iabh-  of  cnlti\ation  should  be  tilled, 
H  ith  settlers  in  the  proportion  of  one  family  t(j  eveiy 
tiiousand  acies. 

Thus  We  com  '  at  last  to  the  first  indi\idual  owner- 
>"hip  of  any  part  of  Westport  land.  Uessboro  was  first 
>urveyed,  as  appear^  from  (iiUiland's  own  papers,  in 
•June  of  17()-t,  by  Col.  Thomas  r.-dmer,  Deputy  Survey- 
or, acting  by  order  «jf  Alexander  Colden,  Es(].,  the  then 
i^urveyor  General.  The  work  was  doiie  at  the  expense 
•■1  (filijland,  a!iJ  he  apJ'ear.->    to    ha\e    ai-couipauied  the 


J"'"^  iifsToh'v  OF  WKSTroirr 

surv.niun;  pnrh-,  hn  hitnsHlf  Wm^^  a  coiDpetent  sur- 
veyor. T]u(  survey  "])a^se.l  eouuoil  the  2()th  Febv.. 
1765,    a.s  per  council  niiuute  book  may  ap[)ear/' 

Thus  it  is  ))laiu  that  the  First  Year  of  our  town  chro- 
nology is  ]7Gf,  aii^  our  J^rst  Day  is  that  one   in  Jun.. 

■when  Gilh'land  and  Pabiier,  with  their  axenuu,  carryin-  1 

chain   and   compass,   iV^li-Aved    tJie  outline  (^f   Bessboro  j 

throu-h  \W'.  unbn.krn  forest  from  .)ur  JJlulfFoint  wt-.t-  \ 

ward,  tlieu  south,  then    west  a>;-ain   to    the   foot   of  the  | 

mountains,  and  so  down  t„  our   Ahdlein   brook,    wliieh  I 

they  called  Beaver  l)ro.>k,  ami  back  to  the   lake   shore  I 

ai^ain,  coming  out  of  the  woods  very  nearly  at  the  phice  1 

readied  by  Bogers  and  his  Bangers,  in  March   of  ITon.  \ 
(only   eight    years    before),    when    they    were    seeku.- 

French    villagt:-s    to    buin,— plans  diflerent    indeed    to  j 

those  of  Gilliland.      He  had  encon)passed  a   stretch   nf  I 

land  as  fair  and  tVrtih:  as  any  in  \\)ii  w.ndd,  rolling  from  I 

the  lak*.  sh<.v,-  to  the  fMut   of   the    n.onntains,    well    wa-  I 

tered,  richly  wnod.d.  rhw.  ,n,drr  the  protection    of   th.-  I 

f'Ut  at  ^'i"vn  j',,i,;r,an.lifrverab.'anti;ulim)siuH-thad  | 

l>ower  to  tourh   an    hi.h    heart,    how    must  .  his    hav,'  I 

swelled  with  joy  as  h..  m.'asun.l   these   acres    for    him-  \ 

self.       And     though     In,^     gain.-.l     no     riches    fron.     its  \ 

l.o<Sessi.,m,    h)sinu    it     all     l,..fon,-     he    .lied,    vet    it    ha>  j 

l^"n.e  hi~,  nan,,-,  and  the  name  he  gave   it,  for   <nje  hun-  | 

dr.'d  and  thirty-,-iuht   yars,    as    we   write   now,   and    i.  \ 

like  I.,  p-p.  tu;t,'  his  m.-mory  :us  long  as  land  is  namnd  | 

by  nniii.      Tin'  u  ir  ►jo  ..xt,,,t  of  the  patent  is  now  highlv  \ 
.M,ltivat.-d,    l.-tl.-d  with  b:.rn^  and  f arudn.uses,  and  U'av- 
-r-d  iron,  n  u-.h  l..>,.u.h  b'.   th,.  railroad. 


iiisToin'  OF  WKsrroirr  jou 

After  thorif'volntioii,  wIk-u  all  latnl  titifs  (k-iivcd  IVoiu 
(lie  Jiritisli  ei-()\\n  wcno  tliiowii  iiit(MU(>i>' «»i' Lss  confus- 
\<^\\  ami  micc^vtaiiitv,  Gillilaiul  had  -ifat  ditlit-ulty  in  oh- 
tainin<^  recogi)itic>n  of  his  vi^lits  as  ownei'  of  ]5ossl.)oiu. 
IJr.t  at  last  a  nowsurvey  was  urilorcrl.aud  he  vt'ceived  his 
title  from  the  state  iu  1780.  In  the  capitol  at  Albauy 
\'w  the  liehl  notes  of  this  secoml  siuvev.  A  certified 
I'^iiy  of  theui,  as  well  .u^  a  eojij  of  a  :na[)  of  Jit^sslxiro, 
aKi)  eertitlml,  (showing  the  shaj-)e  of  the  ]>atent  as  out- 
hiied  u{>on  the  niaj)  op[)osite  oai"  title-page,)  was  sent 
me  by  the  kindness  of  the  Hon.  "William  Pieison  Jud- 
.-o!i,  Deputy  State  l-3ugineer.  As  th--  held  notes  C(jn- 
>titnte  a  description  of  the  boandaries  of  the  patent, 
and  have  never  been  printed,  the}'  are  givtjn  in  a  note.""-' 
'J  lie  }>'iut  <.)f  ih'partnre  of  the  survey  was  "a  hemlock 
ti.-e  standing  on  the  bank  of  the  lalce,"  and  the  only 
nanu-s  given  are  tho.se  of  "Bay  de  lioche  Feudu"  and 
"a  place  known  by  tlu'  name  of  llatt  lesnake  Den."  This 
niust  have  been  m-ar  the  Hniestone  ([.aairy,  and  not  fai 
fron)  the  spot  wlune  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.    boys  camped    for 

•In  consequence  of  a  Warrant  of  Survey  from  the  Surveyor  General  of 
the  State  of  New  York,  to  be  directed,  bearing  date  the  —  day  of  November, 
17V',  I  hive  performed  the  following  Survey  for  William  Gilliland,  of  a  certain 
Tract,  piece  or  parcel  of  Land,  Situate,  lyinp  and  bein;;  in  the  County  of  Washing, 
ton,  and  on  the  W«st  side  o£I..nke  Chainplain,  known  by  the  name  of  Bt-th-Bor- 
.ouxh. 

Began  September  24th,  17S6,  at  a  heap  of  Stones  lying  between  a  Black  Oak 
Tree,  marked  Z.  P.  lyS/^— W,  G.  178^,  eight  links  east  from  a  Hemlock  Tree 
iiiarked  Z.  P.  173/^— W.  G.  178^,  Standia-nn  tlie  Bank  of  said  Lake,  between  a 
pl.ice  known  by  the  name  of  Habile  Snake  Den,  and  the  Bay  de  Roche  Fendu,  on 
the  south  side  of  the  entrance  of  said  Bay,  v,  hich  is  tlie  most  easterly  corner  of  a 
Tr<ct  of  2(0O  Acres  of  Land,  crranted  to  Major  Philip  SUeen. 

Kunning  thence  on  a  South  line  of  said  Skeen's  Patent,  S.  So  derf.  o]',  W.  41 
i  hiins  lo  a  Stake  t''irttV-n  link*  WeMfroni  a  Beech  'J'ree  cornered  and  markL*d  Z.  P. 


i]o  n/ST(>L'v  OF  wFsrroirr 

s*)  ijiaiiy  years  on  the  Wonnaii  |)ropo)ty.  I  cannot  tuid 
that  any  r.ittlesnake  has  botMi  seen  there  for  at  h^ast  tli^- 
space  of  one  <4encration,  but  the  name  brings  out  vividly  ^ 
the  wild  IcMieliness  of  tlie  shore  when  the  surveyors 
tirst  stt'|)ptHl  n[)()n  it.  .Vn  e])Ofh  is  Inark^?L]  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  reehun;ir,iou  of  ;i  |iiiH-e  of  land  from  the  wil- 
derness wh.;n  the  names  ^iv.-u  to  points  within  it  are  no 
h)nf?er  those  of  natural  objects.  'Ihis  ep<,)eh  came  to 
Westport  when  Gilhland  named  his  patent  after  his 
daughter. 

Happy  is  that  land  whose  lirst  setthn-s  have  a  genius 
for  nomenclaUne  I  And  if  tliis  be  so,  haj^py  is  the  land 
whose  second  century  shall  honor  the  name-giving 
of  the  }i)st.  William  Gilliland  was  blessed  with  a  good 
name  hims-df,  a  fact  of  souie  importance  wh(ni  history 
comes  to  be  written,  and  the  names  wliich  he  gave  to 
places  wer-'  always  graceful  and  i)ertinent.  Before  tli'- 
coming  of  I'^Ji/abetli  his  wife  he  had  named  the  present  | 
site  of  Er,s,.\  village  after  her,  and  two  of  his  northeiai  | 
patents    weif    named    Jaiiesboro    and    Charlotteslioro.      | 

17S6— \V.  G.,  tlicncc  S.  oj  Ueg.  56'  E.  (y\   chains  to  a  sUke  eighteen  links  southeast  1 

from  a  Beech  Tree  cornered  ;ind  marked  Z.  P.  1736— W.  G„    beinjf    the   Southeast  I 

corner  of  said  Skean's  Patent,  thence  S.  S9  deg-.  o4'    \V.    156   chains   60  links   to  :-■  j 

Beech  Tree  marke.i  \V,  G.  lyS'i,  thence  Sauth  igr  chains  to   a    Birch   Tree    marked  % 

\V.  G.  i7Sfi,  staiiciinj;  on  the  north  bounds  of  a  small  Tract  of  two   hundred    Acre>  \ 

of  I^^and  sarvcyeu  for  /cphani.ih  Piatt,  Esq.,  thence  East  along  the  North  Boun.'.s  \ 

of  said  Tract  of  two  liandred  Acres,  80  chains  60  links  to  a  Hemlock  Tree  markei  ^ 

/..  P.  17V.— \V.  G.,  standinor  on  the  Bank  of  the  Lake,  thence  Northerly  alonor  :he  I 

West  B.mk  of  s.iid  1-ake  as  it  winds  and  turns  to  the  place  of   Beyinnlno^,  contain-  J 

in(f  i^vo  Acre*  of,Ljnd,  and  the  usual  allowance  for  Highways.  5 

That  the  within  Survey  has  been    performed   with   accuracy   to  the    best   of  r.iy  i 

knowlcdjjc  I  a\cr  and  attest.  5 

(Signed)             )ON'AS  S.  ADDOMS,  ' 

D.  G,  Surveyor. 


lusTom'  or  wKSTPDirr  m 

Awx  two  ilau^liters.  A  branch  of  tlie  Au>;al)le  wliirh 
In'  (li-^coveroJ  lie  named  "Cnlleii  A\'ater."  Many  of  the 
V,  ttifi\s  at  IMiJltown  pjivo  nanios  to  tlieir  farms,  (nif  lie- 
in.:  }uiniskt'Uin<;  and  another  KiUeen,  showing  tleli^'lit- 
fi;lly  thy  Irisli  origin  of  the  tenants.  Tlie  name  of 
MilUoun  itself  was  doubtless  taken  from  that  of  a  vil- 
I'lL't'  not  far  from  Armagh,  in  Irehind,  where  GilHland 
u;is  born,  and  there  is  a  AVillsb(>i(>  on  Lou^h  Fo\le,  in 
Londonderry,  whicdi  he  mu.-t  have  known  familiarly. 
i').-vboro  is  also  au  Irish  name,  f-lnce  there  is  an  estate 
ia  the  simtli  of  Ireland,  '"a  demesne  in  tiie  Barony  of 
Iverk,  })aris!i  of  FiiUUown,  C'<mnty  Kilkenny,"  near  the 
ri\er  Suir,  whieli  was  granted  to  Sir  John  Ponsonby,  a 
."^Lijor  in  the  army  of  Cromwell,  and  named  by  him 
b.-ssborou^h  for  his  wife  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Henry 
Lord  Foliot.  The  hi.^hest  title  of  tlie  Ponsonby  family 
i-  tikeii  from  this  Irish  estate,  John  George  p.rabazon 
i'o!i.M)nl>y  beiuL,^  made  first  Earl  of  Bassboroui:^h  ^i n 
17:)'.).  ^luch  jdeasant  but  profitless  labor  has  been 
^pent  in   tlie  efYort  to  trace  som<;   connection    l)et\veen 


^••vorn  before  ine  this 

ii  Day  cf  December,  17S6. 

(Signed)  ABRAHAM  KEIGHT,  Jus.  Peace. 

AecoiTipanying  tlie  copy  of  these  tieid  notes  is  the  folIo%ving  document: 
STATK  OF  NEW    YORK. 

(Jr  «C2  OK  THE  StATK  ENGINEER  AND  SURVEYOR. 

I  have  compared  the  preceding^  copy  of  Field  Notes  of  survey  of  Lot  number  — 
i-i  the  —  Tract,  with  the  description  of  survey  found  in  book  number  10,  p.  nv.  on 
'■•c  :o  this  office,  and  I  do  hereby  certify  the  same  to  be  a  correct  transcript  there- 
froin  and  of  the  whole  of  the  field  notes  of  survey  of  said  lot. 

WiTNE.sa  my  hand  and  seal  of  ofrice  of  the  State  Ensriiieer  and  Survtvir,  at  the 
City  of  Albany,  the  eisfht  day  of  April,  one  thousnnil  nine  hundred  and  one.; 
vSigncJ)  \VM.  PIERSOX  JUDSON. 

Dc, I'.ity  Sc.ite  E^tfineer  and  SLirveyor, 


'^'-  iiisTijuY  or  wrsrroirr 

(lillilaml  an.]  the  Irish  D.^sshoiDuu'li,  but  it  seoms  [Um!,- 
ahle  that  tlio  iiaiiic  only  lay  in  his  memory  with  thos.. 
nf  all  .,th..r  places  in  tho  Knierahl  Isle,  to  be  brought 
forth  uh.-h  his  own  foitniK's  roiieh.;.]  a  point  where  !;•■ 
too  mi-ht  ;^ive  a  nnmt^  to  a  l.nronao-e  or  a  principality. 
Now  h't  usi>>tuni  to  the  naiaative  of  ev.'nts  el'stlv 
affecting  our  history.  'J'h-'  iit-xt  year,  in  Jnue  of  ITfJi;. 
C;i!Iilan.i  brought  his  family  to  Militown.  They  start.-! 
fr.Mn  N-w  Yoik  on  the 'iSth  of  A()ril,  in  two  heavijv 
loa.lea  l)ateau\,  and  liad  a  <!itrionlt  and  |>erilous  pas- 
sage. At  Stillwater  one  of  the  bateaux  was  upset,  and 
two  cinhb>ii  were  drowiunl,  .^]ie  of  thmi  Gillihuid'^ 
oldest  chihl,  Jauf',  aged  sIk  y.-ar.s.  ":Mv  lovely  daugli- 
terl"  exclaims  (Jilliland  as  he  records  the  disaster  in 
his  diary,  and  he  mourns  his  loss  iu  u  touching  eulogv 
ujion  the  chihTs  i.erffctioiis. 

They  caaie  by    way   of  Like   G.?orge,  t    detained  at 

Then  follo.v s  t:.e  f;rc:it  lA-o.V  r<  c!  s.al  of  tl.e  State  of  New  Yo7k7"of~araTpect 
awesome  indeed,  and  s..ffici.-nt,  one  wo.Ud  think,  to  command  belief  in  statements 
much  more  doabtfi:!  than  these. 

It  w;!l  be  noticed  ih.i:  the  n.iine  of  the  patent  is  variously  written.  GiUihind  h,n.. 

self  wrot.it  Bcssborou;.^,.  and  in  the  Held  notes  the   surveyor   writes   it,  certa^n-y 

wuh  a  ^rca:  effort.  "Be-h-BorrouKh."     I.n  our  town  records  it  is  "Bettsborouvjh." 

On  Burr's  map  of  the  county.  .S^.^.  jt  is  '•Bossborough."  and  in  an  act  of  the  Le-- 

.  .slature  of  ,^9  it  is  "Bassburgh."  but  these  two  forms  are  evidently  misprints. 

Hon.  Richard  K.  Hand,  of  Elizabethtown,  President  of  the  Essex  County  His- 
torical Society,  has  called  my  attention  to  a  "Bc.borough"  in  north-eastern  Ver- 
mont. Iy>n<  on  both  sides  of  the  I'assamsick  river,  which  is  shown  on  Sauthier's 
map  of  .77V.     It  wo.ihi  he  interesting' to  know  the  hi,lory  of  the  name  in  that  place. 

Tin  that  ch3rn,in^iit<leb,ok.  "Lake  Georj^e  in  History."  by  ElizabetJi  Esrgle- 
Mon  bcc'.ye.  a:lu,.on  i.,  made  to  the  pas.a^fe  of  Baroness  Riedtsel  and  Lady  Har- 
net  Acklandthrou^-h  lake  George  .n  .777.  with  the  statement:  "They  were  the 
lirst  white  womcn*to  see  this  hvke.  eAc-pt  the  few  wives  uf  common  soldiers  and 
cmp  followers."  Probably  the  auUior  had  never  heard  of  Mistress  GUlilnnd  who 
went  tiirov.gh  tlc\  rn  ve.'.rii  bi  forr.  * 


msTdin'  OF  WKsri'oirr  ivi 

nearly  eveiy  .stop[)iui];  i)lace  by  tlio  severe  illnoss  of  Mr. 
(lilliland.     Qnotiug  his  diary  : 

"2i.l  Jane,  arrived  at  fort  George  on  that  day,  in  the 
.'veniuii-.  My  illness  coiitiuuiug,  detained  us  all  at  fort 
(u'or^'e  for  nine  days,  from  the  2d,  to  Wednesday,  11th 
June,  then  pat  all  my  stores  and  embarked  myself  and 
family  on  board  of  Wm.  Stonghton's  schooner,  and  hav- 
in--  a  fair  wind  arrived  this  evening  at  Ticonderoga  la)id- 
ing, where  being  necessarily  detained  the  12th,  embarked 
the  nest  day  on  board  the  sloop  Musquenuuge,  and 
ill  a  passage  of  one  and  three-fourths  hours  arrived 
at  Crown  Point  on  the  evening  of  Friday  the  13th  June. 
Here  my  disorders  returning,  I  v/as  confined  by  my 
room,  often  to  bed,  to  Saturday  the  21st  June.  Then 
left  Crown  Point,  and  the  wind  being  favorable,  arrived 
the  evening  of  tliis  day,  {)retty  late  at  Ge,4'ge  Belton's, 
where  we  staid  all  night,  and  the  next  day  being  Sun- 
day, 221  June,  jn'oceeded  on  our  .Journey,  and  arrived 
in  ^Miiitown,  in  AVillsboro.  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Gilliland, 
my  spouse,  being  the  first  lady  of  our  family  that  landed 
iji  AVillsb'U-ou^h."' 

So  it  was  tilt!  twt.'uty-tirst  of  June,  and  on  a  Saturday 
Hiat  the  women  of  tiie  family  first  saw  Besslniro,  from 
the  d.H'k  of  the  .sloop  Mustpienunge.  The  whole  party 
ronsistetl,  as  Gilliland  takes  pains  formally  to  set  down, 
<ii  "my  wife  Mrs.  Eli/al)eth  Gilliland,  my  mother  Mrs. 
Jane  Gilliland,  my  sister  Miss  Charity  Gilliland,  my 
brother  Mr.  James  Gi,lliland,  my  daughter  [Miss  Eliza- 
bi.'th  Gilliland,  mv  nie-i-e  Miss  Elizabeth  Hamilton,   my 


114 


iJisroRY  OF  WKsrroirr 


.^ervaut   girl   Laehol    McFiudfU,    atiJ   ray    negro    man 
Irelaml." 

Gillilaiul  was  at  tliis  time  not  much  over  thirty.  Lit- 
tle Elizabeth  uas  two  years  oKl,  and  the  only  chihUeft 
them  since  the  drouninf^  of  her  sifter.  How  she  must 
have  been  guarded  by  mother,  graudmotiier  and  auut. 
and  what  a  bad  couiiiany  it  must  have  boon.  Perliaps 
tlie  fathor  to(»k  little  iJessiu  his  arms,  and  pointed  out 
to  her  the  shores  which  he  had  called  by  her  name, 
traced  the  boundaries  of  the  pateut  and  exulted  over  its 
beauty  and  extent. 

All  that  summer  the  lake  was  busy  with  the  traffic  of 
tht-  colonists,  rhilip  Skene  was  also  at  work  build- 
ing up  his  colony  at  the  southern  end  of  the  lake,  and 
his  boats  came  often  to  the  ore  bed  ou  the  shore  below 
Crown  Point  for  ore  for  his  forges.  It  seems  probable 
that  the  persojial  jurpiaiutaiire  of  Skene  and  Gilliland 
dates  fri)m  thi.-^  i)t,'riud. 

In  Septenjtnr  came  a  very  distinguishe.l  party  frr.m 
tlie  south,  and  tMU'  which  (lillihiud  seems  to  have  felt 
it  his  duty  to  welcome.  A  commission  had  been  ap- 
pointed by  the  crown  to  verify  the  boundary  line  be- 
tween the  juoviiiccs  of  (.lucbcc  and  New  York,  and  w:i> 
composed  of  Sir  llMury  3[oore,  Governor  of  New  York. 
Sir  Guy  Carleton,  Governor  of  Quebec,  Philip  Schuv- 
Icr,  afterward  «air  (i,  ner.-.j  Schuyh-r  of  the  Pevolution, 
and  an  a.tron.-nifr  named  Pobert  Harper.  These  gen- 
tlemen were  ;Hc')mj.anied  by  a  nephew  of  Sir  Guv 
Caileton.  'piob:.b!y  Christopher,  afterwards  Maj<u 
Caiieton.i   ,.n    M!..rn..v     i.;ui..d    Jojui    McKes>fm,,  and 


/ijSTO/n'  OF  WEsrroiiT  no 

Ciipt.  Charles  Frcilenl)nrgb,  ami  tliey  came  np  the 
Hudson  from  New  York,  ari-iviu;j;  at  Fort  George  th*^ 
secoud  of  September.  There  Gillilaml  met  thetn,  and 
writes  in  liis  diary  : 

'■Governor  Moore  immediately  gave  me  an  invitation 
to  become  one  at  his  table,  which  I  accepted.  He  and 
Governor  Carleton  accepted  my  invitation  to  take  their 
passage  in  my  Bateaux  across  the  lakes,  and  we  tdl  ar- 
rived safe  at  Crown  Point  ou  Saturday,  6tli  Sep.,  1760." 
The  next  da}'  observations  were  taken  to  determine  the 
exact  latitude  of  the  fort.  "After  dinner  embarked  for 
home  in  my  Bateau,  the  Governors  an.1  (jther  geutle- 
lueu  embarking  before  dinner,  in  the  sloop.  Overtook 
them  at  Button  Mould  Bay  and  went  al>oard  the  sloop, 
where  dinner  being  just  served  up,  1  dined  with  them; 
there  being  little  or  no  wind,  tarried  with  them  -i  or  o 
hours,  and  then  pushed  oft'  in  niy  boat  for  home,  where 
1  arrived  about  one  in  the  morning,  found  all  well."' 

So  it  was  almost  i'.i  ^Vestport  waters  that  the  Boun- 
dary Commission  was  becalmed  for  a  half  day  or  more, 
a  party  of  eight  at  dinner,  talking,  perchance,  of  the 
prosperity  of  the  jirovinees  since  the  peace  with  France 
had  been  declared,  and  of  the  future  of  this  beautiful 
Viilley  and  waterway  whicii  had  been  gained  so  recently 
by  England.  Perluq)s  Gillilaud  ])ointed  out  to  them 
the  shore  of  Bessboro,  and  told  of  his  plans  for  its  set- 
tlememeut.  Ten  year.-^  afterward  Governor  Carleton 
came  again  t<»  the  same  s]>ot,  but  that  time  he  sailed 
fi'om  the  north,  struggling  against  a  contrary  wind  in 
the  pursuit  of  the' tjvt-aping  colonial  lleet,  grounded  and. 


n(^  ijlstoi:y  of  wnsTroirr 

burnocl  before  his  eyes  not  two  miles  from  Buttou  P,,iv. 
Ymi  neither  he  nor  rhili]>  Schuyler  tiion-ht  how  tli("v 
shouUl  fight  each  other  in  the  future,  as  tliey  drank 
their  wine  together,  and  when  the  wind  sprang  ui. 
again  they  wont  on  their  way  to  Canada.  A  ^veek  af- 
terward Governor  Moore  and  his  party  came  back,  and 
on  the  20th  of  Septendjor  Gillilaud  wrote  iu  his  diarv  : 
'•This  day  Sir  Henry  Moore,  Col.  ileid,  Philip  SehuV- 
ler,  Kobort  Harper  and  AdolpljusBenzel,* Esq's,  calleil 
and  drank  tea,  etc.,  with  us,  on  their  return  from  As- 
tronomer's Island,  having  completed  their  observation 
to  satisfaction,  and  fixed  the  line  about  5  miles  to  the 
northward  of  Windmill  Pdint." 

And  so  Mistre.ss  Gilliland  had  company  in  the  best 
room  of  the  house  at  Milltown,  of  which  we  only  know 
that  it  was  built  the  3  ear  before  "with  logs,  44  feet  bv 
22,"  and  had  "u  doubl.^  chin)ney."  The  furniture  had 
all  been  brou-hl  frnm  New  York.—tweuty-two  wagon 
loads,"— and  it  is  to  hv  hoj.od  tlud  enough  china  tea- 
cups for  the  use  ,,f  tlie  Governor's  party  had  arrived 
unbroken.  What  would  we  give  now  for  the  tea-p.-t 
which  held  the  tea?  We  can  imagine  the  group  sitting 
around  the  great  (q.en  tiiv-plHoe  in  the  evening,  it  is 
said  that  Sir  Jl-nry  ^Wno  was  "a  gay,  affable,  good- 
natured  and  well-i»red  gentleman."  Little  J3ess  was 
theonly  ehild  to  l„.  notieed.and  Philip  Schuyler  had 
babies  of  his  own  at   home.     ])id  he  take  her  on   his 

'Adolphus  B.n.el  wa.  t.'.c  f.rst  to  fill  th7'offic7~of~'l7spect^;r hL 
Majesty*  ^ood.  an  I  forc.t.  a.a  un..ppropri..t.d  l.nds  on  Lalce  ChampL.in  and  ir 
C^aada."     He  .•,..,  -.c  cnyir.cc  ^.ho  planned  the  extensive  works  at  Crown  Point 


HI  STORY  OF  wKsrroirr  in 

kneo  and  win  her  licait  as  lie  won  the  hearths  of  the 
children  of  Barouess  lliedesel,  and  the  heart  of  the 
Baroness  herself,  wlieii  he  took  them  under  his  })rotee- 
tioD  after  tiie  battle  of  Saratoga? 

The  Commissioners  passed  on  their  way,  Schuyler 
j^erhaps  the  only  one  of  them  destined  ever  to  see  that 
hearthstone  aj^aiu,  and  the  next  day  another  little 
<lan£;hter  was.boni,  and  named  Jane  AVillsboron.^h  Gil- 
hlaml,  the  first  name  in  memory  of  the  little  girl 
drowned  at  Stillwater  in  May. 

And  when  little  Bess  was  a  lass  of  six,  and  Willsboro 
had  become  a  large  and  thriviuo;  settlement,  her  father's 
])hins  for  colonizing  Bessboro  began  to  be  fultilled,  in 
the  coming  of  Bavmond. 


IV. 

lia\-nioiicl  and  the  Itcvoliitioii. 
The  First  Hon^e  in  Westport  was  made  by  one  Ed- 
ward Baymond,  in  the  yeai'  1770.  Who  this  man  was, 
whence  h'»  came,  to  what  place  he  went  after  his  sojourn 
<>D  these  shores,  we  cannot  tell.  We  do  know  that  he 
wMs  one  of  Gillilaud's  colonists,  and  that  the  greater 
part  of  these  wei'e  said  to  be  Irish,  like  Gilliland  him- 
self. Baymond  is  a  good  Irish  name,  and  one  borne 
by  a  noble  family.  Most  of  the  earliest  settlers  jit  Mill- 
town  came  from  X'ew  York,  but  every  part}-  of  emi- 
j^rants  was  joined  by  others  all  along  the  way,  at 
Albany,  or  S  •it'U'.'sboi'ongh.,  or  at  anv  ))lace  where  there 


IIS  niSTORY  OF  WKSTPOirr     : 

was  an  opportuLiit}-.  Gillilaiul  advertised  iu  the  'OLer- 
curv,"  a  New  York  paper,  offering  ioducemeuts  to  "lu- 
dnstrious  Farniors"  and  otljers  who  would  go  to  the 
promised  laud  of  Lake  Chaiuplain.  But  liayinond  can- 
not be  ranked  in  the  class  of  ordinary  colonists,  most 
of  tlicin  so  ]Kior  tliat  the}"  were  oblij^od  to  work  for  the 
first  few  years  foi-  a  bare  maintenance,  as  it  is  plain 
that  he  must  have  been  ji  ninn  of  means. 

Ilaymond  settled  upon  Gilliland's  patent  of  Bess- 
V)oro,  at  the  mouth  of  the  stream  which  we  now  call  tlie 
Bayruond  broolc,  building'  a  saw  riiill  and  a  grist  mill 
upon  the  littL-  fall.  On  all  this  vast  frontier,  there  was 
hardly  a  more  promising  place  of  settlement  than  the 
one  he  chose.  On  one  of  the  main  waterways  of  the 
country,  iu  a  virgin  land  fast  filling  with  eager  settlers, 
he  was  in  the  direct  line  of  all  travel  north  and  south, 
convenient  to  the  settlements  along  the  Vermont  shore, 
and  not  far  from  the  f(^rt  at  Crown  Point.  There  ^\•as  at 
that  time  no  better  mill  site  on  the  shore  of  the  lake. 
In  those  days  of  full  streams,  before  the  woodsman's 
axe  had  let  in  light  and  air  to  dry  the  face  of  the  ground, 
the  mouth  of  the  brook  was  as  wide  as  the  little  bar 
into  which  it  tlo\\>.,  and  deep  enough  for  loaded  boats 
to  come  almost  to  the  foot,  of  the  fall.  Thus  was  af- 
forded a  harbor  safe  from  storms  aiid  j^assing  enemies. 

Here  Raymond  settled, and  here  he  lived  for  six  vears. 
during  the  time  of  the  greatest  prosperity  of  the  colony 
on  the  Boqut't.  These  were  the  years  which  show- 
forth  once  mole  the  truth  of  that  wise  saving,  "Hai)pv 
is  that  land  wldcli  has  no  historv,"  fur  Gillihuurs  di;u\ 


ii/SToi:y  OF  WKSTi'oirr  uu 

ce;iso(l  to  be  regulai'ly  kept  after  Jniio  of  17()7.  Thus 
\vr-  tiuil  lio  ineutioii  of  IlayniouiVs  sottlemeut  in  the 
•liavv.  The  most  ilireet  testiiuouy  iu  regard  to  it  is 
fuiuid  in  an  affidavit  discovered  among  the  Land  Papers 
of  the  Seereta)j  of  State  by  Mr.  Henry  Harmon  Noble. 
Tliis  atfidiivit  is  referi'tul  to  in  Watson's  "Pioneer  His 
torv  of  tiie  Cluunplaiu  Valley,"  but  lias  never  before 
bee]:  ic  print. 

Laud  Papers,  Office  of  Secretary  of  State,  Albany. 
Vol.  3't,  page  125.  Dated  August  17th,  1785. 

J/f/n/'T/V  of  Uthu'if  Hail  h)  relafion  to  Eiiicard  Hat/)noi)'rs 
"h'tle  iimJtr  Will  tarn  'GiUUand  to  la 

oil  tJie  west  ■side  of  Lal-c  Chaii/phni 

Udny  Hay,  being  duly  sworn,  deposeth  and  saith 
that  about  the  year  one  thousalid  seven  hundred  and 
seventy  (1770)  ):^ilward  Kaymoud  was  settled  and  Im- 
pr(jviu,ij;  lands  in  Bessborou^li  on  the  west  side  of  Lake 
Cliamphiin,  td.)out  eip^ht  miles  north  of  Crown  Pe»int  and 
about  three  miles  south  of  the  Great  West  Ba}',  called 
the  {here  "Bay  de  Kocher  Fendu"  is  struck  out  iu  the 
orij^iual)  West  I'ay.  That  the  said  Edward  Pvaymond 
hail  there  built  a  Dwelling  house  and  a  saw  and  grist 
ruill.  That  the  said  Edward  liayuiond  iufcunned  the 
deponent  either  that  he  was  a  tenuant  of  or  held  under 
William  Gilliland,  who  then  lived  on  the  west  side  of 
the  Lake  at  a  i)iaee  called  Willsborough.  That  this 
Deponent  was  also  informed  l)y  the  said  William  Gilli- 
land that  the  said  Edward  Jvaymoud  wa-  a  renaut,  or 
had  ]iurchased  of  him  and  Im])roved  und.'r  hinu. 

And  thisDei>onent  further  saith  that  the  said  Edward 
Piaymond  lived,  ch'ared  and  cultivated  land  and  Im- 
proved at  the  place  above  mentiixied  to  have  his  resi- 
dence until  the  eommenctunent  of  the  late  war,  and 
ntitil  some  time  in»lhe'  year  1770,  and  farther  Deponent 
saith  not. 

(Siu^neil)  Ui»NV   H.W. 


'120  11  [STORY  OF  WESTroRT 

Swoi-D  ill  New  York  the   17tli   of  A.i-nst.   ITS.-;    bofoiv 
W.  Wilson,  Ald'r, 

This  IMnoy  Hay  is  tlie  CoIohgI  Hay  wlios.,  uauu. 
often  appears  in  the  printed  volumes  of  the  Public  Pa- 
]>ers  of  George  Clinton.  He  had  known  Gillihtnd  well 
from  the  beginning  of  the  colony  on  the  Boquet,  his 
honic  being  in  Montreal  before  tlje  Eevolntion. 

We  also  tind  mention  of  a  place  called  Paymond's 
.Mills  in  two  letters  written  from  Lake  Champlain  in 
the  snm^mer  of  17S.0,  and  described  in  detail  on  another 
page.  That  at  least  one  house  in  this  settlement  stood 
until  aftur  the  Pevolutiou  we  kno^\  from  a  letter  by 
Judge  Charles  Hatch,  which  he  calls  "a  sketch  of  thl 
early  settlement  of  the  county,  but  more  particularly 
of  the  town  of  Wosfport."     In  it  he  says  : 

"Still  there  was  also  a  small  improv  meut  four  miles 
soutli  of  the  present  \Vesti.ort  village,  commenced  by  a 
nianbythenameofPaiment,  which  was  the  only  h,.- 
provement  commenced  before  the  Pevoluti.ni  in  the 
in-esent  Westporl.  At  the  last  mentioned  place  Pai- 
n^nt  erected  a  small  null,  but  it  all  was  demolished 
when  I  nioved  iuiu  thi>  place,  (1802)  excej-t  a  shattered 
old  house  which  was  occupied  by  Jienjamin  Andrews/' 
Of  course  '-Pvaimeut"  stands  for  Pavmond  in  the 
Judge's  sprlli.,g,  whi.h  had  its  eccentricities.  -Vnothe-r 
connr.natory  d.H.u.M..nt  is  an  old  deed,  made  out  in 
Iblb,  eno.u>..d  <.n  tlu-  outside,  "Jared  Pond  to  Ananias 
Pogers,  Oir  r.cd,  ibiymoiul  Fan,,  ,^-  Mill  Lot,  X.  W 
Pav."  ii.H.I...  Nn:.pp.,.l  up  in  .  tarn^l..  of  law  tc.rm>" 
we    I.nd    i|n.e    vsonis:  '-Also    t!,;,t   Tract  of  land  com. 


iriSrORY  OF  WKSTrORT  T2i 

iiionly  called  the  Eayrnond  farm,  now  in  possession  of 
I'ftujamin  Andrews,  C(.intaining  two  Imndrod  acres." 

The  Gazetteer  of  the  State  of  New  York,  published 
ISifiO,  says:  "A  small  settlement  was  begnn,  and  a  mill 
luiilt  in  the  south  \va\1  of  tin-  town  before  the  Revolu- 
tion." This  modest  and  perfectly  correct  statement  is 
tran>;ferred  to  the  Essex  County  History  of  \'6'^U  in  this 
{uxm  :  "It  is  reported  that  a  mill  was  built  and  a  small 
settlemoit  begun  in  the  south  part  of  the  village  (sir) 
prior  to  the  Revolution,  but  all  vestiges  of  these  were 
obliterated  during  that  fierce,  internecine  struggle." 
Perhaps  wo  could  have  spared  at  least  one  of  the  ad- 
jectives in  exchange  for  a  more  careful  investigation  of 
facts. 

And  last  of  all,  there  still  survives  on  the  soil  itself  a 
legend,  told  by  the  first  settlers  after  the  Revolution 
and  preserved  by  tlieir  descendants,  of  one  Raymond 
who  once  had  a  mill  near  the  mouth  of  the  brook  and 
wiio  was  driven  from  his  home  by  Indians,  fleeing  in  a 
Miiall  boat  with  his  wife  and  child  to  the  Vermont  shore, 
while  the  savages  burned  his  house,  A  grandson  of 
dames  W.  Coll,  who  setth-d  at  the  ].lace  in  1808,  told 
nie  this  t-ile  before  the  atli.lavit  of  I'diiey  Hay  was  sent 
Uie  fiDtn  Albany,  and  ]  have  no  doubt  myself  that  the 
additional  details  contained  in  this  oral  testimony  arn 
perfectly  true. 

Thus  v.e  havt-  all  the  known  f;icts  about  our  earliest 
^k-ttlcment.  always  such  an  iuteiesting  point  in  the  his- 
tory  of  any  town.  We  can  imagine  howRayiUi^ud  built 
ijis  li>u'  cabin,  thi-n  his  saw  u.uji,  and  a  little  )aU')-  tht-  "rist 


ij-2  niSToin'  OF  wESTJ'oirr 

mill,  uuloss  as  wasofteii  the  ease,  both  uiills  wore  hoiHe.l 
niidov  one  roof.  The  mill  stones  aiul  the  saw  must  have 
bt'eu  brouj^ht  a  loii^  way  perhaps  in  l)oats  from  New 
Yoi'k,  like  the  machinery  for  Gilliland's  mills  on  the 
JJoquet.  But  who  wanted  the  boarils  that  Haymonil 
sawed,  and  who  brou;.^ht  corn  and  wheat  for  him  1() 
j^^rind  ■?  J)(inbtloss  most  <if  the  produce  (jf  tli«» 
mills  was  cousunied  in  the  settlement  itself,  but 
all  alonf^  both  shores  of  the  lake  were  settlers  gdad  of 
these  modern  iuiprovements.  The  grist  nnll  must  have 
been  es])ecially  welcome,  since  one  can  live  in  r;reat 
comfort  in  a  log  house  with  a  iio(3r  of  hewed  ])uucheons, 
but  grinding  corn  by  hand  in  an  Indian  mortar  is  very 
slow  and  laborious.  This  was  no  unpeopled  wilder- 
ness, reckoning  as  an  American  frontiersman  reckoned 
in  1770.  And  who  were  Ilaymond's  nearest  neighbors? 
The  family  of  John  Ferris,  living  on  the  opposite  shore 
of  the  lake,  only  three  nnles  i'.way,  at  the  place  which 
we  now  call  Arnold's  bay.  Seven  miles  to  the  soulh 
was  another  mill  on  the  lake  shore,  probably  built  at 
nearly  the  same  time  as  Raymond's,  and  eight  miles 
away,  on  the  peninsula  of  Cn^wn  Point,  lay  the  [netro|)- 
•  ilis  of  tht^.  region,  in  the  village  near  the  fort.  There 
was  always  a  garrison  oi  soldiers  in  the  big  barrack-^ 
that  Amherst  luiilt,  and  there  had  been  a  thriving  vil- 
lage ou  the  sliore  of  the  bay,  with  cleared  farm  lands 
stretching  away  to  tli«'  south,  fver  since  the  early  days 
of  French  oceu[).tti.)n.  Although  most  of  the  Freneli 
iidiabitants,*  if  not  all,  may  have  r<'turnt,'(l  to  Canada 
whiHi  the   rountiv    was  givMi   up   to   tlb-    Ibitish,   they 


iijsT(fRy  OF  WKsrroirr  12. -^ 

Ii.kI  hoen  gone  but  seven  years,  !\n«l  most  of  the  liousos 
::.!'.st  \ia\v  heeu  left  wlion  llaymond  came,  proluibly 
.•ccupied  by  new  settlers  from  tlie  English  colonies. 
llighty  years  afterwaril,  \V.  C  AYatson  rotracetl  the  line 
i.f  the  village  street,  with  its  door  stmies  and  cellars. 
There  was  a  store,  driving  a  brisk  business  with  the 
-oldiers  and  settlers.  When  supplies  on  the  Boquet 
i.iu  low,  Gilliland  had  recourse  to  this  store,  and  we 
may  be  sure  that  when  Esvymond  wanted  a  new  axe 
liead,  or  ]\]istressPiaymond  had  lost  her  darning  needle, 
a_ small  l)oat  canje  out  froui  the.  mouth  of  the  Raymond 
lirook  and  was  rowed  eight  miles  across  blue  water  to 
the  same  place. 

So  much  for  next-door  neighbors,  east  and  south.  Tn 
the  north,  the  nearest  were  Gilliland's  settlers  below 
Split  ikock,  twelve  miles  away.  To  the  ^\  est,  the  bound- 
lt^ss  continent,  unexplored,  full  of  v/ild  beasts  and  sav- 
ag(!  men,  the  little  settlement  formiug  but  a  tiny  notch 
cut  oat  from  tlif,  edge  of  a  universe  o{  nnmeasui'ed 
forest. 

So  we  can  see  how  the  Baymonds  lived,  v.-ith  the 
people  who  gathered  around  tliem.  The  men  worked 
in  the  niills,  hunted  and  tished,  while  the  v/omen  spun 
before  the  rude  fireplaces  an<l  the  children  played  along 
the  shore.  In  six  years  of  the  existence  of  the  little 
community  thete  mast  have  been  both  birth-,  and 
deaths,  and  the  ilead  v,  ere  buried  on  the  point  which 
^)verlo(jks  the  island,  with  tlat  stones  set  U|>  at  the  head 
and  foot  of  each  grave.  Perhaps  it  was  liiymond's 
>i'tl]ers  who  e;il)i"d  the  isbnjd  '-Cherrv  Island,"  l.s  it  is 


1-24  nisTonv  OF  ]VKsrr(>r:T 

namoJ  on  the  map  made  in  ITS.").  Au  E.^'.i-h  colony 
Avouli.l  h;ii\lly  know  llio  .•^tt)ry  of  the  tor:.:".r  ■:•!*  Fatlit-r 
Jo|j;ues,  inoie  tlum  a  huudrod  years  befure.  Tbas  tliey 
spent  fiv(}  yoar.s  in  the  )-U(](?  and  advecturj^.s  life  of 
i'rontiersin.'ii  aiul  tiieir  t'aiuille.s,  and  then  v-.i.:;:e  a  bud- 
den  Hash  and  npht^aval  at  their  very  doors  iii  the  taking 
of  'J'ic()nd(M('ga  and  Crown  Point  l)y  Eth.-i!  Allen  and 
IJenndict  Arnold. 

Peihaps  there  were  nuMi  from  Rayrnoiid's  Mill,  in 
the  little  band  that  crossed  the  lahe  from  SLoreham  to 
TiconderogJi  that  May  morning  of  1775,  crepi  into  the 
fort  past  the  st;irihd  sentitiel,  and  gave  :;!e  cheer  in 
front  of  the  barracks  which  wakened  DehudAoe.  F"r 
several  days  behjre  the  attack,  the  Green  Mountain 
Boys  had  searched  the  shores  of  the  lake  from  Skenes- 
boro  to  Pant()n  for  boats  in  which  to  transport  the  at- 
tael:ing  force,  .-md  Raymond  n:ay  have  sent  both  men 
and  boats,  ui-  liave  joined  in  the  enterprise  himself.  Or 
it  may  be  tln\t  he  stayt;d  cautiously  at  home,  and  saw, 
looking  out  of  his  do!)i-,  the  two  small  boais  which,  were 
sent  by  tlie  liritish  garri.-^on  at  Ciov.n  Point,  to 
carry  to  Canada  the  news  of  the  loss  of  Fort  Ti,  with 
au  urgent  request  for  reinforcements.  Down  the  lake 
they  Went  with  all  sp.-t-d,  but  bi:-fore  they  were  out  ":' 
the  Narrows  they  w.-re  capturcnl  by  that  one  of  th<' 
Green  Mount, lin  lioy.s  w!io  bore  the  unfiu-gettal)le  nam-- 
of  Pi. 'member  Paher.  Lying  in  waif  inside  the  uu)uth 
of  Otter  (.'r..  k,  h'-  cam.-  (uit  just  in  time  to  intercept 
tliem.  ;uid  th.'V  .U!'!  th-'ir  dispatclu-s  were  hustled  back 
to  swrll  the.uiimbei-  .'t   the   captured    ii,ud    the   gc-n-nai 


iiisroin'  OF  WKsrroirr  ^0,5 

;_lorv  of  the  occasion.  One  cau  irnai;iiie  tlieir  ilis;-:,u.st 
with  the  strutting,'  ami  crowiu-';  Coutinoutals,  ongagoil 
.il)ont  that  tiFiif ,  acconliii.u;  to  Alleu's  own  ac^Mutit,  in 
■'tossiiij^-  about  the  flowing  hcwl."  Wht'n  Seth  "Warner 
came  to  take  possession  of  Crown  Point  he  i'ouiui  thert^ 
;•  garrison  of  one  sergeant  and  eleven  men.  Did 
^Varuer  pull  down  tlie  banner  of  Enj^land  from  thefla;!:;- 
-talY,  or  did  he  leave  it  flying  in  obedience  to  that  tre- 
mendous fiction  which  so  solemnly  maintained  that  the 
colonists  were  not  resisting  the  king,  but  only  figliting 
;t  Httle  provisionally  while  seeking  to  learn  more  fully 
his  good  pleasure  in  certain  disputed  matters? 

The  next  thing  for  Raymond  to  see  from  his  door  was 
the  schooner  of  Major  I'hilip  Skene  sailing  }>ast  with  a 
good  south  breeze.  Many  a  time  had  he  seou  her  before, 
lor  she  had  made  regular  trips  from  Skenesboro  to  St. 
•bihn's  ever  since  Skene  built  her,  but  now  Skenesboro 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  Continental  soldiers,  and  tin- 
schooner  was  commanded  by  Benedict  Aiucjld.  Fol- 
lowing c:imo  a  number  of  batteaux  loaded  uith  men, 
and  commanded  by  Ethan  Alh^i.  Twt)  or  three  days, 
.Old  tlie  schooner  is  seen  agaiti,  sailing  south,  trium- 
I'hant  convoy  of  a  captured  sloop  and  four  batteaux, 
which  Arnold  had  taken  at  St.  John's  the  day  before. 
Now  the  eolonists  ruiedl  the  lake  from  end  t<^  end,  and 
by  tliis  time  liaymond  iiiust  have  ih^clared  himself  for 
King  or  Congiess.  That  he  chose  the  latter  seems 
nio>t  probable  from  tin-,  fact  of  his  staying  until  tlu^ 
iH-xt  year.  A  Tory  miliar  living  so  neai-  the  fort  would 
iia\f  lit^tju  ii\elined»  to  gt)  away  as  soon  as  possible  aftel' 


.  12H  JUSTijUY  OF  WlCSTI'nirr 

the  led-eoats  li.ul  ^iveu  way  to  the  Gr<;eii  Mouutaiti 
lloy.s. 

Late  iu  August  of  that  suuniier,  General  liiehanl 
3Ioutgoinery  It'l't  Ticonderoga  \vitli  an  army  of  a  tlious- 
aud  ijiui),  fulL)\v(;(l  elo^>ely  l^y  his;  chi<r;f,  Major-denera! 
Schuyler.  Both  these  nieti  were  familiar  with  Lak-- 
Cbamplaiu,  from  their  serviee  against  the  French  in 
the  last"  war.  It  was  Phiiij)  Schuyler,  as  will  be  le- 
membereil,  who  dined  in  Bnttou  bay  wheu  lie  was  with 
the  Boundary  Commission  in  ITtiG,  and  afterwavds  took 
tea  with  the  Gillilands  at  Milltown.  His  friend  Sir 
Guy  Carleton  was  still  Governor  of  Canada,  but  Schny- 
ler  would  not  dine  with  him  unless  one  of  them  should 
be  taken  p)-isonor.  This  was  that  romantic,  disastrous 
invasion  of  Canada,  tlif  story  of  w  hieh  is  so  full  of  names 
.of  men  who  aft  .rward  became  famous,  and  which  is,  as 
a  whole,  symbolized,  for  glory  and  for  grief,  by  the  o\w 
name  of  llichard  Montg.)mery.  On  the  last  day  of 
the  year,  leading  an  unsuccessful  attack  on  Quebec,  h>-- 
was  killed,  and  tlu'ie  buried.  After  forty-three  years, 
his  body  was  carried  through  the  lake  to  its  last  burial 
in  New  York. 

HiiymtMid  and  CriHiland  must  have  heani  of  Mont- 
gomery's death,  of  Arnold's  wound,  and  of  the  army  ir. 
winter  quarters  at  Montreal.  At  the  very  beginning  of 
the  campaign  S<;lmyler  hacl  lu^en  obliged  to  go  back  t-> 
Albany  <»n  aciount  of  sickness.  All  that  winter  th- 
l;dv';>  was  full  of  n)(-s^fngcrs,  trooiis  sent  as  reinforce- 
ni'Mits,  sick  and  fui-louglicd  men  returning  to  th^^ii 
llon^tJ■^.  and  .dl  Luc  i.u-1,1.-   '.u.l  contusion  inci'-lcnl  f.o  tic 


Til  STORY  OF  ]vi-:sTroirr  ijt 

I'.-ar  of  aw  army  of  invasion.  Snowslioes  and  sledgfs 
xM'ved  for  the  winter's  travel,  and  when  the  ice  broke  np 
in  the  sprinp;  alinf>-^t  the  first  l)oats  that  went  thron^h 
("iriied  the  Commission  of  Cmigress  to  Canada. 

If  Eaymond  stood  in  his  door  on  the  twenty-fourth 
(if  April,  177C,  lookinpj  out  npou  the  water,  where  cakes 
o{  ice  still  floated,  f^vindinff  and  crushinf^  apjainst  the 
>hove,  he  nii^ht  have  seen  two  lioais  <;o  by,  making 
tlu'ir  way  nr-vtliward.  Tlie  boats  were  hir^e  and  heavy, 
thirty-six  feet  in  length  and  eight  feet  wide,  furnislied 
with  a  rude  square  sail  and  rowed  by  armed  men  who 
wore  a  uniform  of  browti  with  baft'  facings.  Tiiere  were 
thirty  to  forty  soldiers  in  each  boat,  and  the  whole 
farmed  an  escort  for  four  men,  sent  by  Congress  to  Can- 
ada to  trv  the  temper  of  tlif  Canadians  and  induce 
them,  if  possible,  to  join  the  thirteen  colonies  in  rebel- 
lion agaitist  Great  Ijritaiti.  There  were  tliree  Commis- 
sioners, I>enjamin  Franklin,  Samuel  Chase  aarl  Charles 
Carroll  of  Cairollton,  accomjianied  by  Join;  Carrc^U,  a 
•b-suit  jnit'st,  and  afterward  the  tirst  lloman  Catliolic 
Arrh-bishop.-,f  the  United  States.  Tlieyhad  had  a  weary 
j'uniey  from  Philadflphia,  stopping  for  a  welcotne  rest 
at  the  liouse  of  Philip  SchnUer,  and  had  now  left  Ti- 
eonderoga  at  eleven  o'clock,  reaching  Crown  Point  a 
little  after  three  and  stopping  there  to  examina  tije 
<hfenees.  Charles  Carroll  wrote  in  his  diary  that  they 
h'und  theiij  "in  ruins,"  \\hi(;h  seem>  very  surprising 
wlien  one  considers  that  it  was  only  seventeen  years 
^-illce  Amherst  built  tlie  f(.>rt  ainl  tin-  barracks  at  great 
'Ap-Mise,  and  in   the  Uio.-t  subst..'iiti:d  jjiaiine)',  bnt  Cai- 


JJS 


nisTour  OF  \vi:sTi'<)jn 


rollexplaius:  "]]y  soiiio  uccideui  Iho  f(jrt  took  tiie,  th,.  ' 
flames  commiujicateil  to  the  powder  maoazine,  contain-  ] 
•  ing  at  that  time  ninety-six  barrels.  The  shock  was  so  1 
^reat  us  to  throw  down  the  barracks-  at  least  the  upp.r  j 
•stories.  The  explosion  was  distinctly  heard  ten  niilcs  J 
otr,  iind  the  earth  shook  at  that  distance  as  if  there  had  ] 
been  aji  eartliquake.  This  intellioence  I  received  from  I 
onu  Taris,  who  liv.  s  ten  miles  dt)wu  the  lake,  and  at  \ 
wiiose  house  wo  hiy  tliis  night."  | 

Carroll  came  fr.^n  Maryland,  and  was  not  familiar  ! 
with  >;ew  Eu..Iand  names,  but  of  coarse  "Faris".means  \ 
Ferris,  who  lived  ^m  the  eastern  shore,  just  opposite  | 
Raymond's  Mills,  having  settled  there  tlie  year  preced-  | 
iug  the.coming  of  Jiaymond.  The  explosion  at  the  f>,rt  \ 
must  have  formed  one  of  the  most  startling  experiences  | 
of  the  Fiaymond  settlement.  | 

If  Kaymond  saw  the  boats  of  the  Commissioners  1 
drawn  up  on  the  shon.  at  Ferris's,  (we  now  call  th^ 
plac-  Arnold's  bay,,  and  the  party  making  preparation^ 
for  e.mping  for  the  night,  h.  may  have  had  the  curi- 
osity to  row  across  and  obtain  a  nearer  view  of  th^ 
strangers.  At  ti\..  thr  next  ujorning  tiiey  were  again  on 
their  way,  hut  as  they  went  through  the  Narrows 
there  came  up  a  uale  from  the  north,  a.id  th.v 
w...re  forcd  to  stop  at  the  house  of  one  of  GiUilands 
•■"loHists,  on  the  p.vs.mt  site  of  Ess.x.  The  Commis- 
sioners do  not  .<eeui  to  havo  known  of  the  existence  ot 
Gilliland,  uho.se  hospitality  was  so  eagerly  extended  to 
the  lioundary  Commission  ten  years  before. 

Carroll's  jour.ial  continues  the  account  of  the  jourue>s 


lIlSrORY  OF  WKSTFOirr  1-2U 

to  Montreal,  whicli  tliey  reaL-hetl  April  29,  being  re- 
ceived by  Cloneral  Benedict  Arnold,  then  in  command, 
with  much  courtesy.  On  May  11  Carroll  ^vrites  :  "Dr. 
Franklin  left  Montreal  to-day  to  go  to  St.  John's,  and 
from  thence  to  Cougress.  The  doctor's  declining  state 
«>f  lieaith,  and  the  bad  prospect  of  our  atl'airs  in  Canada, 
made  him  take  this  resolution. "  A  man  of  seventy 
years  was  indeed  ill-titted  to  endnre  the  hardships  of 
such  a  journey,  in  open  boats  and  over  rough  roads, 
sleeping  under  the  awning  of  the  boat  or  a  rude  shelter 
of  bushes  in  the  raw  winds  of  our  northern  April. 
Franklin  was  accompanied  on  his  return  by  the  Rev. 
John  Carroll,  the  other  two  Commissioners  remaining 
in  Canada  until  they  left  it  with  the  Continental  army  in 
full  retreat,  the  last  of  May.  Tliey  rowed  all  day  and 
all  night,  passing  Raymonds  Mills  the  evening  of  the 
third  of  June.  One  month  after,  the  arm}-  of  Sullivan 
pa^,sed  by,  hastening  to  shelter  in  the  fortifications  at 
Crown  P<)int.  The  next  day  Congress  adopted  tljo 
Declaration  of  Intlependonce  and  three  of  the  men  who 
camped  (jn  the  shore  of  the  lake  opposite  Raymond's 
Mills  that  April  night  were  Signers  of  that  fanjous  in- 
strument. 

Gilliland's  settlement  at  Milltowu  had  now  had  a 
prosperous  existence  of  ten  3ears.  In  this  time  there 
had  gathered  there  a  population  of  upwards  of  one 
hundred  .souls,  with  twenty-eight  dwelling  houses,  forty 
other  buildings,  two  grist  mills,  two  saw  mills,  and  a 
large  extent  of  cleared  and  cultivated  land.  All  this 
the  colonists  were  tVnced  to  abandon  bv    the    orders  of 


]:u>  11] STORY  OF  WESTPORT 

Sulliva!!,  conimnnder  of  the  retreating  army,  strollgl^■ 
seconded  \)\  tlieir  own  ft-ars  of  the  arniy  of  Carleton. 
M'bich  was  in  close  pursuit.  Gillilaud  buried  the  heavv 
inacbiuery  of  the  mills  iu  the  woods,  aud  taking  his 
family  an<l  what  furniture  lie  was  able  to  carry,  fled  to 
Crown  J^oiiit.  Here  tlio  army  was  s|)read  out  in  one 
vast  liospital.  Sullivan  remained  there  ten  days  and 
when  ho  moved  on  to  the  south  he  left  behind  him  three 
hundred  new  made  graves  of  soldiers  who  had  died  of 
sraall-pox.  Shelter  for  army  or  for  fugitives  there  was 
none.  This  was  a  scene  for  a  man  to  enter  with  a  fam- 
ily of  motherless  little  children, — for  GilHland's  wife 
bad  died  before  this  time.  The  oldest  of  the  children 
■was  Elizabeth,  now  twelve  years  old.  Her  grandmoth- 
er and  the  household  slaves  had  the  care  of  the  familv. 
So  little  Bess  looked  once  more  upon  Bessl;)oro,  as  they 
hurried  up  the  lake  in  confusion  and  distress. 

Gillihuid  sold  his  caUle  and  crop.s  to  Sullivan's  army, 
Avhich  stood  in  sore  need  of  milk,  beef  ami  vegetables. 
The  commissary  was  that  Major  Fl;iy  who  afterward 
gave  his  atlidavit  in  regard  to  GilHland's  ownership  of 
Bessboro.  Gilliland  complained  most  bitterly  that  he 
was  cheated  in  the  price  of  his  cattle,  and  robbed  ami 
plundered  by  tht-  soldiers  of  Arnold.  When  he  laid 
these  complaints  before  Gates,  the  Commander-in-Chief, 
Arnold's  defense  was  a  contemptur)us  denial,  and  a 
charge  that  (iilliland  was  at  heart  a  loyalist,  and  guiltv 
of  attempts  to  convey  information  to  the  enemy.  "Gil- 
libinil,"  said  he, "is  a  most  plausible  and  artful  villain." 
In  the  light    c>f   sub.^f.pi-  lit  hi-toiy,   it  \\iuil>l  seem  tluit 


:  :.  IflSTOliY  OF  WKSri'ORT  7.7/ 

Aruokl  nii^lit  have  been  a  gooel  jnil;^'o  of  tliaf.  kiuJ  of 
tiling,  but  there  is  no  real  evidence  that  GilHhiud  was 
ever  inclined  to  play  such  ii  ])arfc.  It  is  ])rol>aV)ly  trno 
tbtit  he  called  Ai'nold  and  his  men  "a  parcel  of  damned 
i-olibcrs,"  as  one  witness  gave  evidence,  but  we  shall 
not  find  it  difficult  to  forgive  him  for  that. 

Gilliland.  seems  to  have  taken  his  family  to  All)auy 
in  the  wake  of  the  army,  and  did  not  return  to  Lake 
Ciiamplain  until  after  peace  was  proclaimed.  In  all 
this  we  have  no  hint  of  how  things  went  v.ith  llaymond 
and  his  settleuient.  He  was,  of  course,  in  a  much  safer 
position  than  the  settlers  of  Milltown,  being  able  to 
reach  tiie  fort  in  a  short  time  after  an  alarm  should  be 
given.  It  would  seem  that  it  might  have  been  profita- 
ble for  him  to  keep  his  mills  going  while  the  soldiers 
were  at  the  fort.  There  was  no  shelter  theie  for  such 
an  army,  and  the  boards  from  the  saw-mill  would  fur- 
nish material  for  rude  huts,  whih^  the  grist-mill  would 
grind  corn  to  feed  the  men.  Well  they  knew  that 
Oarleton  ^^ as  straining  evt;jy  nerve  to  follow  the  re- 
treating army,  but  absolute  safety  was  nowhere,  and 
the  miller  was  not  timid,— timid  men  did  not  under- 
take to  settle  on  Lake  Champlain  before  tlie  Revolu- 
tion. 

After  the  patiit)t  army  left  Crown  Point,  the  soldiers 
statii)ned  there  were  active  in  the  Imildiug  of  the  little 
fleet  of  Benedict  Arnold.  If  Raymond  went  often  to 
the  fort,  he  saw  there  the  galleys  and  gondolas  building 
in  Bulwagga  bay,  while  others  were  fashioned  at  Skenes- 
borough  and  Ti,  ail  under  the  rostlt.'ss,  driving  domina- 


]:rj  II I  ST  0  in-  OF  WEST  I 'OUT 

tion  of  tlie  vuliiig  spirit  of  these  iiorthoru  \vaters,AriJoKl 
liiinsolf.  The  u-liole  summer  was  spent  in  sliip-building. 
Aruold  at  tlie  soutbern  enrl  of  the  hike,  Carletou  at  tht- 
tiortbern.  In  October  both  were  ready  to  fight.  On 
the  eleventh  they  came  together,  fighting  a  fierce  naval 
battle  near  Valcour,  in  which  Carleton  gained  all  the 
advantage  and  Arnold  all  tlie  glory,  from  the  fact  that 
Arnold  was  fighting  an  enemy  tv/ice  his  size  and  more 
than  hol'ling  his  own.  On  the  morning  after  the  battle, 
before  daylight,  Aruold  slipped  away,  silently  and  suc- 
cessfully, favored  by  his  own  knowledge  of  the  lake, 
and  fine  spirit  of  his  men,  and  their  perfect  and  intelli- 
gent disci}'line.  Not  U7\til  they  were  well  out  of  his 
reach  did  Carleton  discover  tlieir  escape,  and  he  gave 
chase  at  once.  Winds  v.ere  adverse,  and  it  was  not 
until  the  thirteenth  that  the  running  fight  between  pur- 
suer and  pursued  reached  Split  Kock  and  the  waters  of 
Wcstport.  Arnold  was  ir.tent  upon  escaping  to  the 
protection  of  the  guns  at  Crown  Point,  and  Carletou 
was  eager  to  bring  him  to  anotlier  engagement  in  v%hich 
the  great  superiority  of  the  British  liuet  in  ships,  in 
men,  in  guns  and  in  juevious  drill  might  be  brought 
fully  to  bear  and  ctVect  a  dt-cisive  victory.  For  ''^^\t^ 
ghi.sses,"  says  Arnold's  report,  (two  hours  and  a  half,^ 
the  fight  went  on  in  the  upper  Narrows  and  in  North- 
west Bay.  Arnold's  tl^et  had  numbereil  fifteen  vessels. 
His  best  slu'i',  the  /A/y''/  Sncinjr,  was  lost  iu  the  first 
day's  fight.  The  selu^. «ner  lunrnfje  and  the  sloop  ////- 
(irj>r!s'\  with  the  galhy  I'rinuhnjf^  escaped  to  Crown 
Pi)lnt.  whil--  the  gail<-y    ]]'<i.^l/ni>ih>n  was  taken  near  Split 


11IST0J2Y  OF  WKSTl'Oirr  7.-n 

Uoclc.  OtlitM-  galleys  and  goii  lulas  had  boon  snid;  or 
disalilel,  until  Arnold's  gall'V,  the  CoiKjress,  with  four 
gondolas,  carried  ou  the  fight  with  Carletou'.s  JiijJcj-i- 
hh-  and  his  two  schooners,  the  Maria  and  the  Carlrlon. 

In  the  ]Mctnve  which  we  may  conjure  U])  of  the  naval 
battle  in  Xortliwest  ba}',  Oct.  13,  1776,  the  most  cou- 
si)icuous  objoft  is  tlie  jDjIexib/t',  catching  the.  light  on 
her  cloud  of  canvass  as  she  makes  long  tacks  between 
the  shores,  attempting  to  bring  her  cannon  to  bear  on 
Arnold's  boats,  but  c<jnstautly  bailfled  by  a  breeze  from 
the  south.  She  was  ship-rigged,  with  three  masts,  the 
largest  vessel  then  otloat  ou  inland  waters,  carr^-ing  a 
battery  of'eighteen  twelve-pounders,  and  quite  able  to 
blow  Arnold's  rude  little  flotilla  out  of  the  water  with 
two  broadsides,  if  she  could  but  come  within  range. 
Then  there  was  the  C'arlefon,  a  schooner  with  two  masts 
carrying  tweUc  six-])oundor>;,  and  now  showing  in  hull 
and  rigging  many  marksof  thecannonading  (>f  two  days 
before.  T\ie  J/tiria,  (named  after  the  wife  of  Gen.  Carle- 
ton,)  wassomewjiat  larger,  with  an  arinamet:t  of  fourte-en 
six-pounders,  a;:d  upon  her  forward  deck  stood  Caj>tain 
Pringle,  commanding  the  fleet  under  the  obsorvatitn:  of 
Gen.  Sir  Guy  Carletou  himself,  with  Baron  Piiedt^sel  an 
interested  observer  of  the  engagement. 

Opposed  to  tlie.so  three  vessels  see  Arnold  in  the 
( 'oiKjrcss,  simply  a  large  o]>en  boat,  with  rowers  ranged 
around  the  sides,  plying  heavy  oars,  since  the  one  square 
sail  was  of  no  use  with  the  wind  ahead.  Itj  tlie  bow- 
were  mounted  two  cinnon,  an  eighteen  pounder  and  a 
ruelve  j.Mjund'i-,  in  the  stern  two  nines  and  on  thesid^s 


1:m  U J  story  of  WFSrrORT 

&ix  sixes.  The  O'U'/rt.^s  was  built  to  carry  eighty  meu, 
and  one-fourth  of  her  crew  were  killed.  The  four  gon- 
dola.s  were  smaller  than  the  Conr/reHs,  each  built  to 
curry  forty-five  men,  with  one  twelve-pouuder  and  two 
sixes. 

The  clitl'.s  of  the  Narrows  and  of  North  Shore  echoed 
the  roar  of  cannon,  and  the  whole  lala;  kncvw  that  the 
end  of  the  battle  drew  near.  Perhaps  there  were  nier» 
from  Eaymoud's  Mills  fighting  in  Arnold's  flotilla,  and 
])erhaps  there  were  women  loft  at  home  who  crept  out 
to  the  end  of  the  point  to  watcli,  or  boys  too  young  to 
fight  whu  stole  out  in  a  skiff  upon  the  water  in  sight  of 
the  ships.  The  end  came  when  Arnold,  about  two 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  seeing  that  the-  attempt  to 
reach  Crown  .Point  was  hopeless,  ran  his  five  boats 
ashore  in  the  little  shallow  bay  opposite  Barber's  Point, 
bis  vowurs  pulling  to  windward  out  of  riuioh  of  the 
enemy's  guns.  TIi-ju  llie  buiits  were  set  on  fire,  with 
every  Hug  ll}ing,  and  Arnold's  men  stood  on  the  clay 
bank,  keeping  ott' the  siu.dl  boats  from  the  fleet  with 
nmsketr}'  tire  until  the  (_'nn.(jrt'S,<;  and  the  four  gondolas 
were  burned  past  all  capture.^     Tben  they  retreated  to 


•T!-.e  flag*  were  }ikc  the  one  first  rii.sed  by  Washinj^ton  at  Cambridge  in  Janu- 
ary of  the  same  ye.ir,  bearing  the  thirteen  red  and  white  stripes  for  the  thirteer. 
colonies,  with  the  union  ci  EngUnd,  a  red  cross  over  a  white  one  on  a  '  field  of 
blue,  instead  o£  the  iUrs  which  we  now  use.  1  have  not  been  able  to  determine 
exactly  the  naines  of  the  four  {{ondolas  whose  charred  timbers  now  lie  on  the  bot- 
tom of  Arnold's  bay,  but  thev  were  four  out  cf  these  six:  The  New  York,  Capt. 
Kced,  the  Provi.lcncc,  Ciipt.  Simonds,  the  New  Haven,  Capt.  .Mansfield,  the  Spit- 
tire,  Capt.  Ulmcr,  the  Boston,  Capt.  Sumner,  and  the  Connecticut,  Capt.  Grant.  It 
is  oneof  our  loi-al  Icjfcnds  thut  one  of  Arnold's  boats  hid  in  Partridge  Harbor 
after  his  tiuht  wi-.hCarleton.  U  there  i;  any  truth  in  tlii.-,  it  inii.st  have  been  the 
row  B-iiiev  I.-.e,  L-.j-t.  Dav  :b.     It  is  b:r,l  i:i  G.n.  Uicdt^ci's  M.cr:oirs  the.:  liiUgal- 


iiiSTonv  OF  ]vi:srp<.)jrr  is-i 

C!rowii  Point  thr<:)U^li  the  wuuils,  ft)llo\ved  by  Iiulians 
who  Ijad  been  sent  by  bind  nj)  tlio  lake,  and  si<j;uaKnI 
for  boats  to  take  them  over  to  the  fort.  Crown  Point 
was  at  once  abandoned,  the  Continentals  falling  back 
tu  Ti,  and  the  next  day  Carleton's  fleet  came  sailinjj;  up 
and  occupied  Crown  Point. t 

And  how  fared  Edward  Piaymond  in  all  this  stirring 
business?  We  know  that  he  left  iiis  .settlement  in  this 
same  year,  and  the  local  legend  say.s  that  he  was  driven 
away  by  Indians,  escaping  to  the  opposite  shore  in  a 
suiall  boat  with  his  wife  and  eliild,  while  his  house  was  ' 
burning.  Thus  it  would  seem  almost  certain  that  the 
savages  attached  to  Carleton's  army  descended  upon 
Piaymoud's  Mills  and  desolated  the  place.  If  this  be 
true,  Raymoml  suti'ered  for  the  patriot  cause,  and  his 
fortunes  fell  with  the  defeat  of  Arnold.  Since  Crown 
l^oint  had  just  been  occu|)ied  l)y  the  British,  he  could 
not  llee  to  the  ]>rotection  of  th-  fort,  and  his  only  ave- 
nue of  escape  lay  by  way  of  the  eastern  shore.  Per- 
haps his  neighbor  Ferris  took  him  in  that  night,  if 
Ferris  had  had  the  hardihood  to  remain  in  his  house, 
and  the  good  fortune  to  escape  destruction. 


ley '"Wiis  found  a  few  days  later  in  a  hay,  abandoned  by  the  crew."  The  men 
niij^'hl  have  made  their  way  ihrouR^h  the  woods  to  Ti,  eluding  tJie  Indians  who 
had  been  sent  up  both  sides  of  the  lake  by  Carlefon, 

tThe  most  exhaustive  and  complete  account  of  the  battle  between  Carleton  and 
Arnold  is  given  in  an  article  by  C.iptain  A.  T.  Mahan,  U.  S.  K,,  in  Scnbner's 
Magazine  for  February,  iS'jS  This  article  is  finely  illustrated,  and  a  set  of  the 
illustrations  has  been  framed  in  wood  taken  from  the  wrecks  of  Arnold's  boats. 
The  frames  were  made  for  .Miss  Anna  Lee  by  Mr.  J.  X.  Barton,  \vho  had  secured 
at  different  times  several  pieces  of  wood  from  the  wrecks.  The  remains  of  the 
vessels  still  show  plainly  at  low  water,  thoutjh  little  is  left,  of  course,  but  some  oj 
f/ic  kteJ  timbtTS  sutik  in  the  mud. 


isa  jirsTonr  of  v.t.stpout 

An  officer  in  Carleton's  nnnj,  Liout.  Digby,  kept  n 
diary,  iu  which  lie  entered  his  inipressioDS  of  the  cam- 
pain  and  the  countr}-.  "Crowu  Point,"  he  says,  "is  a  re- 
markable fmo  plain,  au  imconimon  sight  to  us  after  be- 
ing so  long  Inii'ied  in  sncli  lioundless  wooils,  where  our 
camp  formed  agrand  appearanco."  He  speaks  of  flocks 
of  pigeons,  "thick  enough  to  darken  the  air,  also  large 
eagles,"  and  of  ."herds  of  deer  all  along  the  shore 
fcide,  which  were  seldom  disturljed,  the  country  being 
but  little  altered  since  its  first  state  of  nature,  except 
now  and  then  a  wandering  party  of  sa^ages  coming 
there  to  hunt  feu-  their  sustenance."  Ho  mentions  sev- 
eral fam'ilies  living  near  the  fort  who  still  remained  loyal 
to  the  king,  and  who  had  sutlered  ranch  in  consequence 
from  the  Continental  soldiers.  "Wlieii  Carletou  and  his 
fleet  returned  to  Canada,  before  the  first  of  November, 
leaving  the  lake  to  the  colonials  for  the  v*inter,  these 
families  chose  to  go  tt>o,  li^Livitij.^  the  western  shore  more 
utterly  deserliAl  than  it  had  been  since  the  first  settle- 
ments of  the  French. 

The  next  June  Sir  .lohn  Burgoyne'oame  up  the  lake 
with  his  spli'udid  fleet,  carrying  over  seven  thousand. 
Uien,  the  largi'sl  army  which  e\cr  passed  Westport  land, 
and  by  far  tlu^  mo^^t  brilUant  and  impt^sing  sight  ever 
visible  from  these  shores.  Burgoyne  arrived  at  his 
camp  at  the  mouth  of  the  Boquet  river  June  21,  1777, 
his  advance  gu„ud  being  already  there,  and  for  a  week 
afterward  iXw  fair  fulds  of  ^^'illsbl)ro  were  overspread 
with  tin-  \\W\W  t-nt>  cf  liis  sddiery.  Hrre  he  hel(': 
a  great  iMUncd  vi  u;ir  w  iiJi   tl'o    liuli.au    allies  of  Cheat 


iiiSToin'  OF  ]vi:sri'(>irr  y.vr 

D'itaiii,  and  lieic  he  first  issued  tlie  jiroclatiiatiou  wiiirh 
was  called  "the  Boquet  order,"  addressed  to  tho  r<l>td- 
i-.as  coloi)ists,  offerijjg-  peace  and  pardon  to  all  who 
uonid  return  to  their  allegiance  to  thekiu^,',  and  threat- 
<-iiiug  all  others  with  every  terror  of  Indian  warfare. 
This  proehunation  ]iasspd  unheeded  over  tlie  deserted 
iiuiulf^t  of  Rayniond's  Mills,  where  the  wind  swept  the 
a>hes  over  the  C(^ld  hearthstones,  and  the  squirrels 
It'aped  and  chattered  through  the  silent  mills.  Gilli- 
laud's  settlement  was  also  deserted  at  this  time,  and  1 
suppose  there  was  uot  a  siuj^le  rehelHous  colonist  on 
this  western  shoi'e  north  e)f  Crown  Pcunt. 

An  eye-witness  .on  board  one  of  the  ships,  Thomas 
Anburey,  describes  the  advance  of  the  fleet,  on  a  day 
"remarkably  tine  and  clear,  not  a  breeze  stirrini;,"  as 
■"the  most  complete  and  splendid  regatta  you  can  pos- 
<ilily  ((uiccive.  In  the  front  the  Indians  went  with 
tlnMr  birch  canoes,  containing!;  twenty  or  thirty  eacli  ; 
then  the  advance  corps  (Trazer's)  in  lei^ular  line  with 
the  gunboats;  then  followed  the  liniinl  Gi(>r(ji-  and  th.^ 
Iiifh  xiblf,  towing  large  booms,  with  the  two  brigs  and 
sloops  following;  after  them  Generals  Biirgoyue,  Phil- 
ri|)s  and  Eiedesel  in  their  pinnaces;  next  to  tliem  th.e 
second  battalion,  and  the  rear  was  Ijrought  up  with  the 
suttlers  and  followers  of  tlu>  army." 

The  liuiidl  (rcorijf  was  a  tine  new  shi{),  built  lor  this 
campaign  tlie  winter  l-)efore,  and  fitted  to  carry  twenty- 
four  guns.  The  /////e.r/7./r,  the  (\irhtoii  and  the  Mnrin 
we  have  seen  before  in  Xoitliwi-.st    Bay,   and   again   th<' 


v-v.s'  iiisronY  or  wrsrrnirr 

Mcri'i  has  llic  ilistiiictioii  of  c.irryiii^'  the  olKe*?!' Iji^li.~,t 
ill  iMuk,  i\w  ij;;i_v  nnilorins   of    JUirgoyue   anJ    his   stali 
sl)o\viijg  vividly  under  the  white  sails.     The  sim  shoii^ 
bright  on  niusk(>t  and  'oayom^t,  brass  buttons,  gohl  hic»-. 
}>hinies    ajid    seai'let  (dotli,   with    Hoating  banners  and 
pennons,  the  .^hiuiri^  i^un^  of  the  artillery,  and  the  pol- 
ished instfunieiits  of  a  band  p.laying  the  most    inspiiiu^        ■ 
martial  airs.      Soajev.  hore  iu  all  this  o;liitering   ]iai;-eant       ; 
went    two  heavy,    rough-built    vi.'ssels,    the    row-galle\- 
jrashJixjfnii   and   the    gouilola    Jersf-'i   captured    in    tli- 
tight  between   Carleton    and    Arnold    the    year    before.        \ 
Their  names  soem    to  have   reniained    unehanged,   lik.- 
that  of  the  A'"//'//  S'triKjr^  which    was   built  and    naujed 
by  the  Britisli,  taken  at  St.  John's  In-  Montgoineiy,  and 
used  by  Arnold  as  his  tiag-ship  in  the  battle  of  Vulcour.       j 

On  the  night  of  the  'I'yth  of  Jane  the  German  battal-  \ 
ion  undtn-  JJiedesel  iiiadt^  its  cam{)  at  Button  Bay,  \\-  \ 
read  iii  iiis  n!ei:ioirs  :  'The  weather  was  dtuightful,  and  \ 
we  reaciii'd  J)olioni  bay  the  same  night.  On  the  ilay  i 
following,  (tin  'inth.)  the  aimy  arrived  at  nine  o'cloek  \ 
in  the  morning  at  Crown  Point."  "Bottom  bay,"  of  j 
course,  is  a  ini>:--reading  of  (ren.  Biiedesel's  notes  by  hi<  \ 
biogra[>her,  — pos.-ibly  a  ujjstake  of  his  translator.  '] 

Gen.  Jliedesel's  biogi-aph.-i-  savs:  "Fifteen  hundred  \ 
horses  iiad  b.^-n  [Muehased  in  Canada  for  the  army.  l! 
They  wer.:  to  be  SiMit  to  Crown  Point  by  land."  And  ] 
Palmer  says,  i-i  hi>  i  ['story  .)f  Lake  Cham  [.lain  :  '-Sevt^n 
Imndred  e.ut-.  \\'-\--  brougiit  ou  with  the  arniy,  to  b,' 
used  in  tran-i'-rling  ba^'^ageand  provisions  across  the 
j.oitag.s  b,iw.-.  h  tic-  liA^-s  .iiid  the  liud.-.on    river,  and 


HTSTORY  OF  WKSTl'Oirr  IH'J 

fifteen  liuiidrod  Canadian  horses  wore  sent  \)\  land  uji 
the  west  side  of  the  hUce,  under  a  strong  escort."  Mr. 
Pavid  Turner,  editor  of  a  Westport  news[)aper  in  the 
forties,  waswout  to  claiuj  tliat  this  \vag(ni  train  passed 
thr()U<,di  Westport,  and  camped  one  Wvj^hi  on  the  liill 
iiortl)  of  the  vilhige,  now  known  as"Almon  Allen's  hill," 
r>urr;;oyne's  orderly  books  and  the  published  diaries  of 
two  of  his  otlicers  ^\\q  no  hint  of  horses  brought,  from 
I'aiiada  in  any  way  except  by  water. 

This  German  l^aron  Eiedesel  is  one  of  the  most  in- 
teresting figures  in  the  nruiy  of  Burgoyue,  partly  on 
Ids  own  account,  and  partly  because  of  his  i>eautiful 
\\ife,  who  followed  him  from  Germany  to  the  wilds  of 
.\merica  with  three  little  children.  She  reached  Que- 
l>ec  on  the  11  th  of  Jutie,  after  her  husband  had  started 
^vith  the  army.  They  had  {wo  blissful  days  together, 
ami  then  were  obliged  to  part,  he  to  his  military  duty, 
and  she  to  remain  in  Canada  until  his  return  from  the 
t-ampaign.  Then  it  happenedj  i-u'eciscly  as  it  uiiglit 
have  hajipened  in  a  novel,  that  at  the  battle  of  Hub- 
bai'dton,  July  7tli,  a  certain  Major  Acklaud  was  badly 
wounded.  His  wife,  Lady  Harriet  Ackland,  liad  also 
followed  her  hnsl)aud  to  America,  and  was  then  in 
Montreal.  Hearing  of  her  husl)and's  wound,  she  started 
•at  once  to  join  liim.  When  she  arrived,  aiid  the  story 
was  known,  the  whole  army  went  wild  with  achniraticni. 
A  beautiful  young  woman  of  rank,  the  daughter  of  an 
earl,  ])assionately  devoted  to  a  brutal  iiusband,  thread- 
in^;  her  way  through  forest  and  lake  for  hive  of  him,— 
it    was  all    pitch. "d    to   the    high,    (jniNotie   level    of   th'- 


jii)  iiisToin'  OF  \vi:sTi'uirr 

(li-;imii  tli.it  ljur^o}iio  Mini  liis  men  vvore  playiug.  G'l 
r'ntgiiyiie  knew  i)i"  riieJesel"s  wife  staying  in  Can;ul  •  \ 
(like  a  siiisible  wonuin  as  .siie  was,)  and  he  said  to  In:;!.  \ 
'"Geuei-al,  you  shall  have  your  wife  here  also!"  Su  tli  • 
Baroness  was  sent  for,  and  we  \c\;\\  add  her  name  to  tli- 
list  of  famous  people  who  passed  in  sight  of  "Westport,- 
an^-l  never  a  sweeter,  mere  wonmnly  soul  looked  out 
n})()n  it.  She  w  ;is  acconiji.uiied  by  two  uuiids  and  \\<i  \ 
three  ehildiuu,  six  year  oM  Uustava,  Frederica,  and  tin  j 
baby  Caroline.  In  her  diary  she  does  not  descriii-  i 
her  journey  through  the  lake  with  much  detail,  but  \ 
sajs  :  "During  the  night  we  hid  a  thunder  storrn, which  | 
ap[»eared  to  us  more  terrii)le,  as  it  seemed  as  if  we  were  l 
lying  in  the  bottotn  of  a  caldron  surrounded  by  mount-  \ 
aius  and  great  trees.  The  following  day  we  passed  | 
Tieoiideroga."  Were  they  storm-bound  that  night  iu  i 
our  bay,  elost;  und^r  Noi'th  Slioi-e,  with  the  thunder  n--  | 
verbt-iating  fiom  the-  elill's  V  They  seem  to  have  sle|ir 
on  board  the  boat  for  fear  of  the  rattlesnakes  on  shor«,'. 

Wlifu  the  army  of  Burgoyiie  suirendered  at  Sara-  i 
toga,  the  J>ai'oi)ess  and  lun-  children  were  taken  charge 
of  by  Phili[)  Schuyler,  and  how  prettily  she  tells  the 
story  of  his  taking  the  l>a!)i^'s  iu  his  arms  and  kissing 
them,  t"  the  intinite  icas-urani'e  of  the  mother's  heart. 
Th.'y  wen-  lodged  in  the  Schuyler  uiansion,  and  treated 
with  the  mo^t  ili-.tingiiislied  eousideration. 

The  Gdldand  children,  wer-  in  Albany  at  this  time 
also,  in  tiie  cart!  i>f  their  grandmother.  They  had  fallen 
upon  evil  tiint-s,  for  their  father  was  in  pri.son  upon  a 
eh.uge  <>\  tf  a-o!i,  and  ih:  ir  sla\es  l;ad  rtiii  awa\'.      Our 


insTniiv  OF  WKsrroirr  ui 

Eli/abetli  was  then  a  girl  of  tliirtoen,  tlic-  oldi'st  of  a 
t'ainily  of  live.  They  may  have  seen  the  little  German 
oliildren  \vhi;se  father  wa-  a  prisoner  too,  comih;fjj  ont 
of  the  door  of  the  Sciiuylcr  house,  or  riding  out  with 
their  mother  in  the  grand  Schuyler  coach. 

x\.s  the  army  of  Burgoyne  passed  through  Northwest 
bay,  spreading  out  its  ranks  upon  tlie  water  as  it 
eniorged  from  the;  Narrows,  only  one  nutn  in  all  the 
Ueet  lools'e<l  upon  these  shores  with  k\(^^  of  jiossession 
and  familiar  acquaintance,  and  that  was  Major  Phili|> 
Skene,  who  had  received  from  the  king  six  j  ears  before 
the  patent  which  still  bears  his  name,  and  upon  which 
l)art  of  the  village  of  AVestport  now  stands.  In  those 
six  years  he  had  done  much  and  traveled  far,  seeing 
many  a  coast  with  which  he  could  contrast  the  sti'i-teh 
of  wooded  shore,  unbrc^ktii,  desolate,  washed  by  waters 
which  reflected  every  le;if  and  stone  with  double  bril- 
liancy that  still  Jnnc  day.  As  he  g.i/eit  he  must  have 
thought  of  his  work  at  Skf^nesboro,  where  he  had 
built  mills  and  forges  and  sh.ips,  ;nid  ))erh;i|)s  he  [)!;uined 
to  do  the  sauie  in  Northwest  bav  when  this  can)paign 
should  be  over,  and  the  king's  authority  acknowledged 
without  dis})ute  on  ;dl  the  continent.  His  mind  must 
have  been  full  of  his  settlement  at  the  end  of  the  lake, 
toward  which  ihe  army  was  hastening,  tor  he  had  not 
seen  it  since  its  ca[)ture  by  the  (rreen  Mountain  ]Jo\s, 
mort;  than  two  years  bof(jre.  At  th(-  time  of  that  e\tMit 
he  was  in  Kngland,  leaving  his  s.)n  Amlrew  in  charge  of 
tin."  cohMjy.  He  returned  froui  England  with  two  tine 
liew  things.      ())je  was  a    wife    with    :i    fortune   of   foit\- 


iij  jiisrom'  or  WKsrroirr 

thi.msauil  pouuils,  (lie  haviii"  been  a  haiulsoinc  and 
well-ooimeetod  wiilower,)  aud  thu  other  was  a  lesplcn- 
<le]it  title,  —  "].i(Hitenaut-Goveniov  of  Ticondevoga  and 
Cro^\  11  Point,  and  Surveyor  of  His  Majesty's  ATotjds 
and  Forests  bordering  on  Lake  Cliamplain."  As  h,- 
stepped  ot}'  the  ship  at  Philadelphia  he  was  arrested  by 
the  authority  of  Con<^ress,  and  wa.s  k.^pt  a  [)ris(Hier  fi)i 
more  than  a  year.  One  can  iina^iiie  tlie  consteruali.ui 
of  the  bridn  at  such  an  ending  to  her  wedding  triji. 
Now  he  had  been  exchanged,  had  been  to  England 
again,  joined  tlie  army  of  Burgoyne,  and  found  hiinstdt 
once  more  on  the  fauiihar  waters  of  Lake  Champlain. 
Within  a  few  days  ho  was  at  Skeuesboro  again,  the  arn)y 
having  s-wept  tlie  Continentals  out  of  its  path  in  ruin 
and  rout.  He  showed  Burgoyne  his  coiou}-,  or  what 
remained  of  it,  and  told  him  all  his  plans  for  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  Chaniplaiu  valley.  It  has  been  said,  l.'V 
the  v\-ay,  that  liis  ac(juacintance  witli  Crilliland  was  inti- 
mate, and  that  he  UM'aut  to  make  liim  Ins  viceroy  wheii 
he  hinis!-!f  should  bei-i>m«>  Governor.  If  this  V)e  true. 
it  may  sia-vc  to  explain  something  of  the  mysteiious  im- 
})risonment  (;f  Crilliland  in  Albany  at  this  time,  which 
has  been  hitherto  attributed  entirely  to  the  maliciou- 
persecution  of  Arnold,  between  whom  and  Gilliland,  u'' 
know,  tlu')-.;  o\ist.-d  the  l)itterest  hatred.  A  man  whi> 
had  n-a.-on  to  exp.-ct  an  appointment  of  surh  iuqxnt- 
ance  from  th"  crown  may  widl  havt-  been  suspected  of 
sympathy  with  tlu'  royali'^ts.  But  whatever  the  truth 
may  bf.  \\,-  \<^<{  all  idianc'  of  ever  tinding  it  out  when 
(;,)\rinor  Skriir,  \\\\\\.  thf  r.'stof  the  army,  surrcudtnc.l 


HISTOID y  OF  WKsrroirr  i4:i 

;it  S;irat()fjfi.  He  insisted  to  the  last,  witli  true  Scotch 
»iii;icity,  that  the  country  people  of  the  hikes  were  loyal 
.if  heart,  anil  only  wantei]  the  chance  to  tlock  to  the 
-t:iu(lar'l  of  the  kiii^.  Fie  never  saw  Skeneshovo,  or 
l.is  ore  hed,  or  his  ])atent  at  Ncrthwe^t  bay  a^j^ain,  and 
all  his  |)ro})erty  was  pronijjtly  confiscated  by  Con^^ress 
as  soon  as  })eace  was  declared. 

Late  iu  Sfptenjber  tlie-fi>reos  of  St.  Leger,  having 
failed  to  make  a  junction  with  lUirooyne  by  \vay]of  the 
>roliawk  liver,  followed  him  throuf!;h  Ijake  Champlain. 
\\'hcu  IJaviroyne  surrendered  October  17,  1777,  tht( 
ni-ws  soon  reached  Ticonderoga,  and  the  P»ritish  c^arri- 
»on  which  had  been  ]eft  thei-e  hastily  dismantled  the 
works  and  took  to  the  boats,  intent  upon  escaping  to 
Canada.  Before  they  were  half  way  down  the  lake, 
('a|)taiu  Ebenezer  Allen  (of  the  trilie  of  Ethan)  came 
"Ut  u[H)n  them  with  a  party  of  Green  Mountain  lioys 
:ind  cut  oft'  the  rear  divisi(uj,  capturing  tifly  nieii  and  a 
large  cpiantit}'  of  baggage  and  military  stores. 

A.ltlu)Ug]i  ;ifter  this  year  tlu;  lake  was  the  scene  of 
no  great  national  event,  it  w;is  none  the  less  full  of 
picturesque  scenes.  The  forts  were  not  occui)ied  by 
either  power,  and  the  lake  was  one  great  Debatable 
(.Iround,  with  the  I>ritisli  ships  passing  up  and  down  at 
will,  wliile  small  jiarties  of  Green  Mountain  Boysranged 
along  the  shores,  keeping  close  watch  of  e\ery  move- 
nient.  Bed-coated  soldier  and  blanketml  savage,  some- 
times both  wearirig  belts  frmn  wliieh  (.langled  fresh 
se;tlps,  went  by  Mtuthuaid  in  boats  or  on  the  ice,  drag- 
uiii-C  with  them  ea['tive.-.    fii.m     the   l)ordei    setlh-ment>. 


Jt4  IIISTOnV  OF  WKSTl'Oin 

Hiid  there  me  tales  of  these  captives  eseapiiii^  ainl  tlet-- 
iii<^'  soutliwarJ  over  tlie  same  trails.  The  Johnsons  and 
the  Butlers  from  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk  mude  this 
their  pathway,  and  the  face  of  Joseph  Brandt,  adorned 
with  war-paint  and  with  eagle's  phimes,  looked  more 
than  once  upon  the  place  where  a  descendant  of  his 
own,  not  sixty  years  after,  stood  in  a  Christian  pu]]iit 
and  preached  peace  and  piety  with  benevf)U^nt  zeal.- 

In  31iiy  of  17S0  came  Sir  John  Johnson,  at  the  head 
of  his  Royal  Greens  and  his  Indian  allies,  five  hundred 
in  number,  on  their  way  to  visit  the  Mohawk  valley 
ouce  more  with  tire  and  blood.  At  Crown  Point  thev 
disembarked  from  the  ships  which  had  brought  them 
up  the  lake,  and  took  to  the  woods,  fohowing  a  well- 
known  trail  to  Johnstown.  Turning  instantly  when 
their  blow  had  been  struck,  they  began  their  retreat  th^^ 
2ord  of  May,  taking  with  them  both  prisoners  and 
plunder.  Gov.  Clinton  hiujself  followed  them  in  clo>e 
pursuit,  going  by  way  of  Saratoga  and  Lake  George, 
hopiijgto  cut  them  otl"  before  they  reached  Lake  Chani- 
plaiu,  but  they  gained  their  ships  almost  under  the  ey^-< 
of  his  scouts.  He  wrote  to  General  Howe  :  "I  with 
great  DitKculty  got  on  a  Fcu'ce  superior  to  Sir  John's 
P.irty,  but  was  not  able  to  head  him  or  gain  his  |)lare 
of  Enjbarkation  (Bulhvagers  Bay)  until  about  Six  Hours 
after  he  left  it."  All  tliat  was  left  for  the  batlled  Con- 
tinentals was  to  keep  scouts  on  and  about  the  lake  nil 
summer,  uith  orders   to  report  every  movement  of  the 

*Rev.  Thomas  Brandt,  a  lineal  t/escend;int  of  Joseph  Brandt,  preached  in  '.he 
Baptist  church  of  W'estport  for  sl\  years,  in  the  forties. 


HISTORY  OF  WE  ST  PORT  74o 

oueiuy.  Ill  command  of  one  of  these  parties  was  ^raj(3r 
Ebeuezcr  Allen,  (the  same  who  captured  a  part  of  the 
retreating  garrison  of  Ti  after  Saratoga)  and  on  July  1, 
1780,  he  wrote  to  headquarters  as  follows  : 

"Sir,  I  received  intelligence  by  a  Scout  last  Evening 
which  came  from  Lake  Champlaiu,  that  they  saw  two 
large  Ships  lying  near  Crown  Point  last  Sunday  at  12 
o'clock,  and  two  Tenders.  The  two  Large  Vessels  had 
aV)out  ten  Batteaus  to  each  of  their  Sterns.  The  next 
Day  they  saw  one  of  the  Ships  and  one  Tender  sail 
down  toward  St.  Johns,  the  other  fell  down  as  far  as 
Iiaymouds  Mills,  there  cast  Anchor;  Also  a  large  mast 
Boat  went  to  the  Shore  and  landed  a  Xumber  of  Men 
and  made  Fives." 

So  we  see  that  Raymond's  Mills  was  a  place  still 
well  known,  although  Eaymoud  himself  had  been  gone 
for.r  years,  and  we  suppose  the  settlement  to  have  been 
deserted.  The  two  laige  ships  may  have  been  the 
Rouol  Geonje  and  the  lufv.riJdi;,  and  it  is  probable  that 
tlie  whole  flotilla  had  just  returned  from  taking  Sir 
John  and  his  forces  to  St.  John's,  with  their  wretched 
prisoners.  S'uno  of  the  men  brought  with  them  their 
own  wives  and  children  and  slaves,  hitherto  left  in  the 
enemy's  country,  and  forty  of  the  Rcn'al  Greens  carried 
knapsacks  packed  with  the  Johnson  plate,  which  had 
])een  baried  on  the  flight  of  the  family  at  the  i)eginning 
of  the  war. 

In  October  the  scouts  reported  the  whole  British 
tleet  moving  up  the  lake,  eight  large  vessels,  twenty-six 
iJat-boats  and  more  than  a  thousand  men,  commandtj 


ufi  jiJSTony  OF  WKsrroRT 

by  ^Major  Carlotoii  (ne])liew  of  Sir  Guy).  Tliis  \vas  in 
protoL-Liuuof  Sir  John  Job  nsou,  again  ravaging;  upou  tlir 
Mohawk.  The  keen  eyes  of  the  scouts  of  Clinton 
peered  out  at  the  king's  ships  from  nin,ny  an  unsus- 
pected thicket,  and  stole  along  tlie  shore  in  skills  like 
the  Rangers  of  a  generation  before.  Col.  Ale.Kander 
Webster,  writing  to  Gov.  Clinton  Oct.  24,  1780,  says 
that  the  scouts  "moved  frcnn  thence  to  Buliwagga  and 
Grog  bays,  liayment's  Mills  and  its  vicinity.  The  last 
scout  informs  that  they  rt-connoitered  those  bars  and 
other  parts  of  the  \Ai(^  froiu  the  Beautiful  Elm  in  Pan- 
ton." 

The  movements  of  the  British  upon  the  lake  caused 
grave  concern  among  the  Continental  forces  to  the 
south,  greatly  increased  by  the  sus{)icion  tliat  Vermont 
was  listening  to  overtures  from  commissioners  of  the 
crown.  All  the  next  snmmtjr  the  flteet  sailed  up  and 
down  the  lake,  sometitiifs  making  ahirming  feints,  but 
in  reality  dniiig  very  little  thimage.  If  the  diplomacv 
of  the  Yerinout  leaders  served  to  protect  the  Grants 
from  the  incursions  of  tla-  enemy,  the  deserted  condi- 
tion of  the  Wfstern  <hore,  as  well  as  the  mountain 
barriers,  operated  to  the  same  end.  Lieut.  Haddun,  one 
of  Burgoyue's  otlicers.  wrote  in  his  journal  when  he 
came  through  the  lake,  "It  niay  not  be  iniproper  to 
remark  that  there  are  but  veiy  tV-w  settlements  on  the 
lake,  not  -20,  and  thox;  (»nly  single  Houses,"  and  settU- 
ment  upon  the  frontier  of  ccun-se  ceased  entirely  dur- 
ing the  \v;il-. 

In  Oetelu-i  .-[  ITsl  an  vXj.re--  arrived  from  the  south 


jusTOiiY  OF  WEsrrnirr  lu 

to  Gouerul  St.  Loger  ;it  Ticoudero;;^,  bearing  the  intol- 
ligeii'je  of  the  sui'ren(.ler  of  CoruwaUis.  lus^tantly  ho 
embarked  liis  men  and  stores  and  sailed  away  to  Can- 
ada, and  for  the  last  time  ships  Hying  the  banner  of 
I'^ughmd  sailed  past  onr  shores. 

Late  in  July  of  17S3,  while  the  treaty  between  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States  was  still  pending.  Gen. 
George  Washington  aiado  a  m.rtheru  tour,  visiting  Ti- 
conderoga  and  Crown  Point,  aecoiu])auied  by  Gov. 
Geoige  Clinton  and  some  of  his  generals.  "I  could  not 
help,"  he  says,  "taking  a  more  couteiuplatlve  and  ex- 
tensive view  of  tlie  vast  iidand  navigation  of  these 
United  States."  And  so  he  stood  upon  the  ramparts 
of  Crown  Foiiit,  with  Clinton  at  his  side,  and  looked 
away  down  the  beautiful  lake  upon  the  outline  of  our 
Coon  mountain  and  North  Shore,  with  the  glittering 
blue  of  the  Narrows,  through  which  Arnold's  ships  came 
so  gallanth"  seven  years  before.  He  saw  the  sliore 
where  la}-  the  l>arning  Cuwjrcsx,  and  Ikj  thought  with 
agon\-  that  if  out-  shot  luid  found  the.  heart  of  the  lead(.-r 
on  that  day,  the  I'lilfnrc  would  never  have  dropj)ed 
down  the  Hudson  in  another  October  with  a  traitor  on 
lionrd.  And  writing  to  a  friend  u]»on  his  return,  in  al- 
lusion to  this  trip,  he  s;iys  that  he  "could  not  but  be 
struck  with  the  goodness  of  that  Providence  which  has 
<lealt  her  favours  to  us  with  so  i)rofuse  a  hand.  Would 
to  Cr)d  we  ujay  have  wisdom  enough  to  im|)rove  them." 
With  these  wise  and  reverent  words  closes  for  us  the 
last  sc.jue  of  the  Pievi^Iatiou. 


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C\0.-(«^~t«."'vwaev^vv)OC^     I'^OO 


7.^0  jfiSTOicY  OF  WKsrroirr 

V. 

Orig:mal  Patents. 

The  tonitoiy  of  "Westport  contains  twelve  patents 
and  two  tracts.  Tlio  townsliip  is  divided  bj  an  east- 
aud-west  line  into  tv/o  nearly  equal  parts.  This  line 
runs  west  from  a  point  on  the  lake  shore  just  north  of 
the  mouth  of  the  Koisington  brool;  to  tlie  western 
boundary  of  the  town.  South  of  this  line  lie  the  Iron 
Ore  Tract,  and  the  patents  of  Skene,  AVoolsey  and 
Gilliland.  North  of  it  lie  two  patents  of  Jonas  Morgan, 
two  of  Phut  TiOgers,  the  patents;  of  Daniel  McCormick, 
of  John  Livingston,  {kI'ui.s  Kelly  and  De  Lancey,  nj'ws- 
Taylor  and  Kimball,)  and  of  Rob  Lewis,,  and  the  Split 
Bock  Tract.  These  tracts  and  patents  are  shown  in 
the  Atlas  of  Essex  County,  1870,  where  their  outlines 
have  been  verified  by  coasultin<7  mauy  an  old  map  of 
the  first  surveyins. 

BESSBOKO.  Two  thousand  three  hundred  acres. 
First  sui\-ey,  JiHie,  1701;  first  grant,  February,  1765, 
from  the  crown  to  William  Gilliland.  Second  survev, 
September,  17SG  ;  granted  by  the  vSt.ite  of  New  York 
to  William  Gillilau'l.  Tliis  'pat^-nt  was  not  only  the  one 
first  surveyeil  au.l  grantmh  but  tlie  one  first  settled,  both 
tem[)orarily  and  permaiKMitly.  It  lies  on  the  south- 
eastern border  of  the  town,  between  the  lake  and  the 
mountains. 

SKENE'S  PATEN1\  Two  thousand  four  hundred 
acres,  grantetl  to  Maj<u-  IMiilip  Skene  "pursuant  to  a 
Warrant  frum    \\\-    K-..-.!l.'ncy    the    Ki-ht    Ib.n.'ral.)!- 


HISTORY  OF  \vi:sri'oirr  ir>i 

John,  Eail  of  Dauiuore,  etc.,  bearing  date  tli«'  19th 
(lay  of  Jane,  1771."  It  liacl  been  surveyeil  l>\'  ISiinon 
Metcalfe,  Deputy  of  Alexander  Colden,  and  lay  directly 
north  of  BessboiC),  extt.'ndiii-^  northwarJ  ahmi;-  the  shore 
to  the  head  of  the  bay.  The  field  Jiotes  describe  it  as 
King  "about  three  miles  to  tlie  south  of  tlie  Narrows." 
There  are  two  ancient  maps  showing  this  pateut.  One 
is  in  the  otlice  of  the  Secretary  of  State  in  Albany,  oat- 
lining  the  shores  of  Lake  Chaniplain  froin  Crown  Point 
to  Northwest  bay,  and  showing  by  red  lines  two  pat- 
ents granted  to  Philip  Skene,  a  larger  and  a  smaller, 
the  larger  being  the  oue  already  described.  The  smaller 
patent  is  called  "Skene's  Ore  Bed  Patent,"  and  covers 
the  ore  beds  on  fhe  lake  shore  now  in  tlie  town  of  Mo- 
riah,but  l)elonging  to  \Vest])ort  until  1819.  It  contains 
six  hundred  acres,  and  its  survey  line  be^au  "at  a  Tree 
marked  with  the  letters  W.  G.,  standing  on  the  West 
liank  of  the  said  Lake  on  the  South  side  of  the  Mouth 
of  a  small  Prook  where  it  vents  it«;elf  into  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  comuiotily  c;illeil  Be;iver  Br(.)o!;."  This  seems  to 
mean  our  Mullfip.  brook,  and  the  tree  was  doubtless 
marked  by  (.rilliland  with  his  initials  when  Bessboro 
was  surveyed  in  17(J4.  A  copy  of  this  ma}>  is  owned 
by  the  Westjxnt  Circulating  Library. 

The  second  map  of  Skene's  larger  patent  has  been 
preserved  l»y  the  deseendauts  of  the  surveyor  who  drew 
it.  and  a  copy  of  it  is  here  given.  It  shows  the  tirst 
«livisiou  *)f  the  [lateut  into  lots,  and  we  call  it  the  "Piatt 
llogers  map"  l^ecause  wo  believy  that  it  was  drawn  by 
hiij).      The   Work    U!>on    the    ori'.dnal    is    vciv  tint.',  and 


iry2 


niSTonr  of  ]\i:sTjv,}rr 


could  liot  be  adequately  reprodncecl  upon   the   aeooui- 
pauying  plate.     The  patents  are  outliupd  Mitli  red  and 
yellow  shading,  and  tlie  little  pictures  are  done  in  sepia 
and  water  color,   with  the   names   written   with   a  fine 
quill  pen.     The  fish,  the  ship,  the  deer,  the  Indian  and 
tiie  bear  are  recognizable  at  a  glance,  but  it  is   open  to 
doubt  whether  the  animal  near  the  ponds  is   a   beaver, 
and  tliat  pu  tlie  lake  shore  a  wolf  or  a  lynx.     The   lots 
are  numbered  from  one  to  sixteen,  and   marked  with 
the  names  of  the  owners  :  Melaucton  Smith,  Zephaniah 
Piatt,  Nathaniel  Piatt.    George    Freligh,  Piatt  Rogers, 
\^  dliam  Thorn,  Stephen  Aikins  and    Simon  P.   Peeve' 
(Lots  No.  4  and  15  are  marked  as  having   been    sold  to 
John  Halst,3ad.)     Tliese  eiglit  names   of   the    original 
owners  give  us  the  key  to  the  history  of  the  map,  since 
we  know  that  five  out   of  the   eight    were    amou-  the 
'•twelve  patriarclis"  of  Piattsburgh.     Melancton  Smith 
Zephaniah  Piatt,  N'athaniel  Pratt,  Plait  Pogers  and  Si- 
mon P.  Peeve  met  with  seven  other  men  of  p^-opertv  and 
lutlueiK-e  at  the  house  uf  Zephaniah  Piatt  in  Pou-hkeep- 
SU-,  December  80,  ITS-band  th.re  planned  thefuture  citv 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Sarauae.     Zephaniah  Piatt  and  mJ- 
lancton  Suiith   were    both    member.^   of   the   Provincial 
Congress  of  New  York  i.i   1775,    were   distinguished  bv 
their  patriotic  activity  throughout  the  Pevolution.  and 
were  chosen  members  of  tiie  Cuistitutiohal  Convention 
cf  1.  .8.     Aftei  the.  war  was  over  these  men,    with   oth- 
or.s,  forn-.ed  a  large  land  company    for    tiie   purchase   of 
■    il.tary  grants  on  Lake  Champhiin,  and  obtained   pos- 
^  1-th  the  h.rg.r   and    tlie    smaller    patents    of 


ni 
Ses>i 


II I  sit )  in'  OF  WKSTl'Oin'  ir,:; 

I'liilip  Skene,  ooufiseatecl  by  the  state  nijder  the  attain- 
der of  Andrew  ami  Plii]i[)  Skene.  These  }iatents  seeiu 
iveiitually  to  have  passed  into  t]ie  hands  oi  Piatt 
I'locrers. 

This  is  the  earliest  map  indicating  individnal  owner- 
shiji  of  onr  soil,  Avith  the  exce{)tion  of  the  nia]>  of  Dess- 
I'Dro.  wliicli  is  a  mere  tnitline.  It  gives  onr  shore  line 
frv. lu  the  head  of  the  bay,  a  litth*  novtli  of  the  viHage, 
--cnthward  to  Coil's  bay  and  th.e  island,  showing  akso 
tlie  northern  part  of  Bessboro,  with  tliree  buildings  at 
the  mouth  of  the  l>rook,  exactly  where  llaymond's Mills 
stood  before  the  Revolution.  Two  dwelling  houses  are 
drawn  as  if  from  actual  observation,  one  with  one 
chimney  and  the  other  with  two,  and  the  mill  is  marked 
'Osgood's  Mill."  No  other  trace  than  this  have  I  been 
able  to  discover  of  any  man  named  Osgood  in  our  his- 
tory, although  he  ought  probably  to  be  recorded  as  our 
tirst  settler  after  the  devolution.  The  trail  from  this 
.-settlement  to  the  place  where  the  village  now  stand.-;,  in- 
<licated  by  a  dotted  line,  is  very  interesting,  as  showing 
the  first  ])ath  worn  l»y  human  foot  within  onr  borders. 
It  must  have  followed  blazed  trees  through  a  thick  for- 
est, and  ran  betvveeu  the  present  "lake  road"  and  "mid- 
dle road"  for  mr)st  of  the  wa^-.  Perhaps  the  island  was 
named  from  an  abundance  of  wild  cherry  trees  upon  it, 
I'looming  like  fair3-land  every  s})ring. 

The  date  of  the  map  has  been  assumed  to  be  17S5, 
although  it  may  have  been  drawn  the  year  before. 
That  it  cannot  have  bt.'cn  made  later  Me  infer  fr(>m  the 
fact  that  Ibzckiah  Barber  riH'cted  jiennau-iit  buildings 


/•>/  iiisToin'  OF  WKsrroirr 

;!t  tliH  en<l  of  l>avhr'i-'s  i)oiiit  in  i\\e  sj)rii!^f  of  ITSf).  I( 
these  bniltliiJi:;s  l);ul  bntM)  staH(liu<^  whan  the  uiap  was 
iiijule,  the  tiiap-ujakp)-  v.onld  ct'itaiuly  have  ])nt  them 
in,  since  the  inaj)  v.as  used  i)i'iuci])ully  to  show  to 
woakl-l)e  settlors,  whom  the  ))roi)rietovs  were  ti'vin^  to 
induce  to  luiy  h)ts,  and  the  more  tljickly  setth;d  th^^ 
••otiutry  could  be  ma'le  to  aj^iiear,  the  move  attractive  it 
wouM  surely  be.-^ 

WOOLSEY'S  PATENT.  Six  hundred  acres,  lyin- 
west  of  Skene's  patent,  and  now  traversed  liy  the  high- 
way and  the  raihoa  1.  On  the  map  it  is  shown  as  cov- 
erinij;  t.vo  hirj.;;*.-  [)onds,  but  tliis  is  a  mistake  of  the  sur- 
veyors, who  cannot  liave  drawn  it  from  actual  survev. 
Tliis  patent  Ijelon^ed  to  Melanctou  Lloyd  ^Vool- 
sey,  wjjo  served  as  an  otlicer  in  the  llevolution,  a)id 
was  aid  to  Gov.  C'lintrui.  His  fatnily  came  from  Lou^ 
island,  like  the  Platts,  with  whouj  thev  were  C(innected, 


*  rhc  history  o£  tliis  r.iap  is  r.ilhti  <:iirious.  It  descended  from  Piatt  Ro>ftrs  to 
his  soil,  Aniinias  Uo^cfT.-,  and  ttit-n  to  his  {grandson,  I'lalt  Rogers  Halstciid.  After 
the  death  of  t!ie  lattT  !>•  I'^-io,  ihe  ni  ip  was  kept  among-  tiie  papers  of  his  «isttr, 
Mrs.  Mi  e^  M'K.  Sawjer.  lis  practical  use  was  t)y  this  time  superseded,  bur  it 
was  treasured  bv  the  f.imilv  :i^  a  relic.  Upon  the  death  of  Mrs.  Sawyer,  in  1S70,  r 
passed  into  the  possession  of  her  oidest  son.  Pi.ntt  Kogers  Halstead  Sawyer,  nf 
Bedfoid,  N'.  V.  He  died  in  iS~>5,  and  the  fair.iiy  soon  alter  moved  to  Cluc.ijro.  I'l 
i>99,  when  enjjatjed  in  the  prejaration  of  a  jfencalosical  record,  the  writer  fi;und 
that  the  map  was  still  CHrcfully  kept  in  the  family,  and  was  afterward  favored  hv 
the  loan  of  ic  (ruin  Lea  Hulsti  ad  Savvye.r,  the  ^rcat-gre.it-grandson  of  the  maker. 

An  ai tempt  u  is  made  to  have  Uie  map  photojrraphed,  but  it  was  so  creased  inli' 
f -Ids  that  llic  result  wa^i  en'.irely  unsatisfactory.  Then  the  plan  was  adopted  <;f 
having  an  exact  copy  m  .de  by  haiui,  and  the  copy  photographed.  We  were  frrt'i- 
nate  in  hnunn;  a  resident  of  Westpotl  who  was  aide  to  copy  the  map  with  the  most 
exiiuisiie  tideiitv,  icproducin^  it  exactly  as  it  must  hive  appeared  when  the  sur- 
veyor lified  his  liand  fioi'i  his  ia>-t  stroke  upon  it.  This  copy  was  boujfht  by  Mi»s 
All  ■«  f-ee  und  presented  to  the  villakjc  library,  and  a  photograph  of  it  w  i.s  used  f"r 
111.-  copv  ;:iven  111  -.hi.s  ^o^^.  Ail  th..  v.  ,rk  \v  is  d>iie  by  Mr.  Clarence  Un-lerwood, 
plu  tosrra  ihcr  a:  W.idhams.  .\h:is. 


iiisroin'  OF  wi:sTjv}/rr  ir,.-> 

iiihl  he  was  ]n-oiniiient  amoiip;  tlic  tfuly  citizens  nf 
iMatt.sbnrgli,  living  to  fif:;lit  niaufully  in  the  war  of  1S12 
as  a  Veteran  Exempt.  His  son,  Lt.  Mehmctou  Taylor 
Woolsey,  became  clistingnished  in  the  same  war.  One 
cannot  help  remarking  upon  the  name  ]M.elanetou,  oc- 
curring with  such  unusual  frecjuency  in  the  early  part  of 
iMir  history.  The  gentle  Philijt  Melauchthou,  who  tem- 
perecl  the  fierceness  of  ^Favtiu  Ijuther's  reforming  zeal. 
t!iust  have  been  a  favorite  historical  character  in  the 
generation  preceding  the  llevolntion. 

LIVINGSTON  PATENT.  Upon  a  map  in  the  of- 
tlce  of  the  State  Engineer,  "copied  from  a  map  of  Piatt 
Piogers,'"  a  large  grant  runs  noi-thwest  frctm  the  head  of 
the  bay,  erossii'ig  the  Bocpiet  and  stretching  away  into 
Lewis.  Lpon  it  is  written  :  "John  Livingston  tic  Asso- 
ciates. 7iOO  Acres  Surveyed  IIGS,  CTranted  17S7."  It 
is  uY)on  this  patent  that  the  village  of  Wadliams  Mills 
n(jv\-  stands.  Its  widtli  extends,  on  the  lake  shore,  from 
Ht-adlands  to  the  canter  of  the  viHajze  of  West{)ort,  its 
Western  boundary  touching  the  north  line  of  SkeneV 
patent.  John  Livingston  was  doubtless  one  of  the 
Livingstons  of  Livingston  ^Mauor,  one  of  the  uiost  in- 
tlueutial  families  of  that  day.  The  pa.tent  is 
more  commonly  called  the  Kelly  and  I3eLancey 
|>atent,  and  these  u^ay  be  the  names  of  previous  owners, 
since  in  the  chapter  upon  Land  Titles  in  Smith's  His- 
tory of  Essex  County  it  is  said  that  "John  Kelly  and 
John  DeLancey  obtained  a  patent  for  7000  acres  on 
the  ISth  of  July.  17SG.  The  description  of  the  tract 
betrius    at    the    Pav    de    Poches    Eemh-e   riiid   lie^    in    a 


h'ui  lusTom'  OF  WEsrroiri' 

northwest  course  from  tlie  villR<^e  of  We.st)><jrt."  ])e- 
L.iucey  was  iit  cue  time  a  name  to  conjure  with  in  tlio 
lu^t^)ry  of  New  Amsterdain,  beinp;  that  of  a  powerful 
royalist  I'annly.  It  is  more  than  likely  that  the  patent 
was  one  of  disputed  ownership  for  a  number  of  years. 
Ill  the  county  atlas  it  is  called  the  Taylor  and  Kimball 
patent,  and  these  were  doubtless  its  latest  owners  be- 
fore it  was  sold  oT  to  settlers. 

Mccormick  patent.  Upon  the  same  map  a 
patent  lying  west  of  the  Liviugstf^n  patent,  and  running 
parallel  with  it.  evidently  surveyed  at  the  same  time, 
is  marked  "Daniel  McCormick  A:  Associates.  4000 
Acres,  survi;ye.l  17GS,  granted  17S7."  Daniel  McCor- 
mick  was  a  laud  speculator  on  a  large  scale,  receiving 
immense  grants  of  land  in  Fi'anklin  and  St.  Lawrence 
counties.  The  patent  is  boun.led  on  the  south  by  Skene 
and  on  the  west  by  Jonas  Morgan. 

PLATT  1U)G1:KS  J^VTENTS.  Tliese  lie  in  the 
northeast  part  of  the  town,  one  of  sixteen  hundred  acres 
on  tlie  north  towii  liuf,  taking  in  all  the  tillable  laud 
between  Split  Pock  range  and  Coon  mountain,  and  the 
other  (ju  the  north  shore  of  the  bay,  extending  from 
Headlands  to  Pock  lIa!l)or.  The  latter  was  probably 
secured  to  gain  I'ontrol  of  the  western  landing  of  the 
ferry  b.'tu^'en  Pasia  Harbor  and  Piock  Harbor.  Piatt 
Pogers  rectdved  txttusive  grants  of  land  in  return  f>)r 
his  servic-'s  to  th.i  statf  in  laying  out  roads,  and.  showe<l 
a  tine  disc-rimiii;iti..i,  in  picking  out  the  best  laud  for 
himself.  He  is  said  to  have  received  73,000  acres  in 
this  way.    /]  his  iiiay  w.'U  da/./le  th..;  virion   of  iinpecu- 


iifsrony  or  WKsrroirr  jr>T 

nious  cksceiulaiits,  but  we  inust  roineml.er  tliut  in  manv 
jrspects  tlic  I/uul  was  absr.lutely  valueloss,  and  even 
lial)le  to  l)econie  an  embarrassment  to  its  owner.  Pei- 
li.il.s  its  most  enviable  return  was  in  the  permanence 
iriveu  to  hisuame,  stami)e(l  as  it  is  on  some  of  the  fair- 
est scones  of  this  re-.n"on. 

^  EOB  LEWIS  PATENT.  A  small  square  patent  of 
this  name  is  shown  on  the  lake  shore  of  the  Split  Rock 
nmge,  near  Rattlesnake  Den  and  the  ore  bed  in  the 
atlas  of  1S7('.. 

JOHN  WILLIAMS  PATENTS.  Two  small  square 
patents,  one  of  two  hundred  acres  and  the  other  some- 
what larger,  are  cut  out  of  the  eastern  jiortion  of  th<- 
L-on  Ore  Tract,  and  cover  tlie  country  of  the  ancient 
Stacys  and  Nichols.  John  Williams  was  associated 
with  Piatt  Rogers  in  certain  land  enterprises,  and  after 
the  death  of  the  latter  his  heirs  carried  cm  fur  maiiv 
y.'.us  litigation  for  the  recovery  of  funds,  but  without 
success. 

JONAS  MORCUN  PATENTS.  Two  patents  in  the 
northwest  of  the  town,  ah.ug  the  Black  river,  bear  this 
ii.une.  The  larger  was  of  four  thousand  eight  hundred 
acres,  and  covered  all  tlie  farming  lan.l  of  the  western 
I'.-irt,  stretching  acrc.ss  the  Black  river  into  Elizalu^th- 
t<.wn.  It  A^as  granted  him  in  1790,  and  in  180S  he  re- 
ceived a  smaller  one,  of  .seven  hundred  acres,  corner- 
ing on  the  first  and  running  across  the  river  into  Lewis. 
Thes,.  were  the  latest  gra-ts  made  of  any  portion  of  our 
soil,  and  Jonas  Morgan  was  the  cnly  owner  of  one  nf 
the  ol■^giIialpat^^nts  who  settled  upon  th.' land  lu'  owned. 


v-'^'  Jiisrojn'  OF  WL'STroh'T 

]fe  was  our  livst  manu  facta  rev  of  iion,  Imilding  a  iox^^: 
on  ]jis  larger  }>ateut,  on  the  wosterii  bank  of  tlie  river, 
;it  the  phioe  to  whicli  3[eigs  came  half  a  century  after- 
ward. The  .snjaller  patent  was  granted  ou  coudition 
that  a  furuaee  for  casting  "pig  iron,  hollow  ware  am] 
stoves"  should  be  built  uj)ou  it  within  three  years,  and 
we  know  that  he  built  a  forge,  known  for  years  a< 
"Morgan'^'s  New  iMji'gf^,"  at  the  place  which  we  now  call 
Ijiainard's  Forge. 

SPLIT  liOCK  TRACT.  After  the  best  land  had 
been  sold  oti'  in  patents,  the  reniaiuder  formed  tuo 
tracts,  like  bones  left  after  the  meat  has  beeu  jjicked 
away.  Surely  th.>  Split  Rock  Tract  is  bony  enougli, 
all  rocks  and  mountain  tcjps  and  forests,  with  a  spiink- 
liug  of  ii\Mi  ore  and  rattlesnakes.  Not  a  single  highway 
maintained  by  the  town  penetrates  the  Split  Eock 
range.  One  good  road  there  is,  leading  in  to  the  Hun- 
ter place  and  liock  Har])or,  but  it  is  a  private  road, 
kept  up  the  owners  .)f  the  l)rap,,rty,  and  crossed  by  two 
gates.  Trails  wind  through  the  v:dleys  and  along 
the  mountain  sides  to  the  quarry  and  to  the  iron 
n)ine,  showing  what  the  first  roads  of  the  early  settlers 
must  have  beeji  b.doic  the  wildness  of  the  forest  was 
suljilued, 

IRON  Oin:  TRACT.  This  immense  tract  covers  a 
third  of  the  township,  stretching  over  the  southwestern 
part  <;f  \V<-st[)ort,  th.'  southeastern  part  of  Elizabeth- 
town  an  I  th.>  novthfun  part  of  Moriah.  It  is  well 
!iam.-d,  for  beneath  its  rugg.-d  surface  lie  millions  of 
i"'-^    '■•'    ''••"'■      It    i.-,    likf  the  >,tori.'s  of  wond-'rful  fairv 


iiisTom'  i)F  wr.srroirr  i.vi 

troasuro  liidilen  uwav  in  caves  in  the  liowds  of  tli.- 
earth,  over  whicli  a  spell  has  been  cast  so  tlint  no  inoit.d 
.shall  ever  reach  it  and  carry  it  away.  And  the  wcnl 
which  cast  the  spell  was  this, —  Tif'nii/'vrons. 

There  is  an  iuterestitio;  map  of  the  Iron  Ore  Trai-t, 
luade  ])robahly  in  1810,  which  now  hangs  in  tiie  vilhig.- 
library.  It  sliows  a  careful  and  accurate  survey  of 
this  tnountaiuous  region,  a  wilderness  of  rocks,  hills, 
brooks,  ponds  and  marshes,  whose  scenic  value  was 
small  in  the  eyes  of  the  first  settlers  in  comp;trison  with 
the  iron  mines  so  fondly  believed  in.  The  T)-act  is  di- 
vided into  234  lots,  and  in  many  cases  the  names  of  the 
[mrchasers  of  the  lots  ;ire  marked  upon  the  ])ai)er  now 
so  worn  and  yellow.  Some  of  them  are  Westport 
names,  like  Stacy  and  Douglass  and  Hatch,  but  the 
most  famous  name  upon  the  map  is  that  of  llach.  Tliis 
means  the  Theophylact  JJache  who  w.-i.s  a  member  of 
tho  Provincial  Congress,  the  proceedings  of  which  may 
be  read  iu  tlie  ponderous  volumes  of  tln^  American 
Archives.  He  was  en  the  C'ommitlct  of  Correspond- 
ence with  the  riatts  of  Ducht-ss  county.  Js.-iac  I^ow, 
I.saac  Iioosovelt  and  other  well-known  names.  He,  ir 
seems,  dabbled  in  speculation  in  northern  lands,  and 
his  name  is  well  worth  mentioning,  if  onlv  for  the  sake 
of  adding  its  sonorous  syllables  to  our  li>t.  Surely  it 
will  be  hard  for  Fame  to  pass  entirely  hy  ;i  township 
which  can  show  in  its  earliest  recoid  such  names  a> 
Ananias,  Zai)haniah,  blailorus.  H'zdviali,  Tidinghist, 
Melaucthou  and  Tiieophylac-t ! 


©eftntl:  I?-ii»t.. 


178B— XQ03. 


"7\ach   lilt  fi>  srt  fin    (<»■(,/  c<>Ii,r  iritJinnf  Jj,!,,,/  hUn'l 

In  till'  (inter  li'/hf/' 

-Dr.   V».,i  7)i/h-\-  Pnuin: 


///sToin'  OF  M'ESTi'ojrj'        /^ 


The  Folks  I  Used  to  Ivnow. 

I  knoF  lots  of  folks  in  the  city, 

As  pleasant  as  folks  can  be. 
And  YOH  can"t  claim  to  be  lonesome 

With  thousands  for  com])aav. 
But  it's  true  that  1  f^et  homesicls. 

Once  in  a  while,  to  go 
Where  I  can  meet  in  the  viilao-c  street 

The  folks  1  used  to  knowT 

Some  thiutrs  happen  over  aud  over, 

In  the  ^n-iad  of  God's  great  mills, 
Like  Christmas,  and  Sunday,  and  taxes, 

And  disappointments,  and  biils. 
We've  many  a  chance  to  be  happv, 

And  mauy  to  be  forlorn. 
Ikit  you'll  have  but  one,  oni-  mother, 

And  just  one  place  to  be  born. 

When  spring  com.vs  stealing  northward. 

And  tai)s  at  my  oflice  door, 
I  think  of  melting  ioe-caKes, 

Piled  up  on  a  rocky  shore. 
And  when  there's  a  hint  of  winter 

in.  oue  or  two  frosty  davs. 
I  wish  I  could  see  old  Camel's  Hump 

Through  an  Indian  Summer  haze. 

For  I  was  born  in  a  little  town 

On  the  shore  of  Lake  Champlain; 
The  prettiest  spot  on  God's  green  earth 

That  knows  His  sun  and  rain. 
Oh  to  see  North  Shore  again. 

•And  Bluff  Points  cedai-s  green, 
And  the  sea  of  glass,  'neath  suuset  tires. 

Shin iug  and  still,  between! 


ItCI 


^''^  lUSTOHY  OF  MlJSTJ'Oirr 

To  feel  iu  the  early  niornino- 

A  wind  of  dawn  pass  bv, 
And  push  out  a  boat  in  theVippIes. 

-  Aud  float  away  silently. 
Then  u'hon  the  suu  sbiues'over 

The  hill-tops  of  Vermont, 
To  feel  that  you've  had  your  vision. 

And  it's  breakfast  that  you  want. 

Last  time  that  I  went  fishing, 
.On  the  reef  in  Pattison 'sbav. 

\ou  oiicrht  to  havp  seen  the  si.K-puuiid  pike 
,,   .  That  put  himself  in  mv  way! 

Hand  over  hand  I  pulled  him  in. 
And  his  si/.e  bej.,'un  to  show; 

'"Hello!"  says  I,  ''come  in  out  of  the  wet' 
You  "re  a  fish  1  used  to  know!" 

Partincr  graveyard  grasses 

To  read  a  familiar  name. 
I  .said.  •'  'Tis  a  lovely  spot  to  sleep, 

\\  ben  past  earth's  praise  or  blame  " 
And  thinking  on  the  quiet  dead, 

Where  friends  and  kindred  lie, 
1  prayed.  --OLord,  not  mine  the  lot 

In  the  stranger's  laud  to  die!" 

Kiver,  the  hope  of  heaven 

Preaehers  might  paint  more  fair, 

U  thev  v.ould  only  promise 

"Twould  seem  like  old  times  there 

And  I'm  sure  'twill  be  a  comfort. 
When  my  time  has  come  to  o'o 

^''*  ^n'V'"/n'''^'r'  "■'"^^^'  ^"  the  gt.lden  street. 
Ihe  folks  I  used  to  know. 


II I  STORY  OF  WKsrrol^t  Jury 


VI. 

Early    Settleniem. 

1785-1815. 

We  now  come  to  the  second  part  of  our  history,  and 
that  part  wljicli  most  nearly  concerns  us  as  a  peo]>le, 
the  story  from  the  first  settlement  to  the  conditions  of 
our  own  day.  We  shall  deal  no  lon^^cr  with  the  famous 
people  whose  names  are  to  be  found  iu  histories  and 
encyclopedias,  but  with  the  familiar,  every  day  folks 
who  came  here  and  cut  away  the  forests  and  cleareil 
the  farms  ami  settled  down  to  make  the  town  what  it 
is  to-day,  and  whose  d^\scendauts  we  iLaily  meet  upon 
our  streets.  This  is  what  we  really  care  for  in  a  town 
history,  anct  it  is  the  only  thing  which  makes  it  worth 
while  to  write  such  a  book. 

We  can  never  truly  undeistan.l  our  •)wu  hi-tory  with- 
out making  a  careful  study  of  the  story  <,)f  the  first  set- 
tlements. Who  were  the  men  who  ilrst  came  to  these 
shores  for  homes,  with  what  ruling  ideas,  what  cher- 
lislied  beliefs,  did  they  enter  upon  their  new  life  here, 
and  what  was  the  old  life  which  they  had  left  behind  ? 
To  quote  from  au  article  iu  a  recent  magazine,  ''Begin- 
nings of  American  Literature,"  by  George  Edward 
\\'o(jdl)erry, 

"Everything  begins  iu  the  middle— to  ada])t  a  wis-^ 
saying — like  an  epic  })oem.  That  is  the  central  trutli 
of  human  }'^'rs[)eL'tive.     (Ipeu   history    where  you    will, 


166  111  STORY  OF  WE  ST  r  OUT 

and  tlieve  are  always  men  streaming  over  the  mountains 
or  over  the  sea  from  some  liorizou,  bringing  v.itli  tlieni 
arms  and  cattle,  battle-songs  and  prayers,  and  an  im- 
aginary world  ;  their  best  treasui'e  is  e\er  the  seed  of. 
some  last  year's  harvest." 

And  wo  fiml  that  the  battle-sougs  and  the  prayers, 
the  weapons  actual  and  ideal,  brought  in  by  onr  first 
settlers  were  those  of  X<-w  England  directly  after  the 
lievolatiou — the  New  Enf^land  not  only  of  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers  but  of  Bunker  Hill,  with  old  England  forgotten 
as  a  mother  country,  and  with  the  Puritan  church  and 
the  Puritan  town  meeting  already  familiar  as  a  back- 
ground of  civic  life.  This  mainlv,  but  v/ith  a  modify- 
ing element,  slender  but  strong,  clearly  discernible  to 
one  who  knows  our  history  by  heart,  of  the  ruling  ideas 
of  the  dwellers  along  the  Hudson,  which  were  never 
those  of  New  England  in  the  last  analysis,  but  were 
much  niore  feudal  in  r(.<:,''rd  to  social  structure  and  much 
luore  lil'Oral  in  religious  vlogma. 

The  aunals  of  om^  lunidred  and  twenty-seven  years 
which  follow  must  be  given  too  minutely  to  bring  out 
the  etl'octs  of  these  subtly  ditlering  influences,  but  to 
the  writer  every  C(niMn()n[)lace  name  and  incident  has 
had  a  certain  signitican(M^  connected  \\\i\\  its  known  or 
imagined  source,  lending:;  it  an  inner  illumination  whicli 
no  stranger  could  ever  be  made  to  understand.  This 
by  way  of  ajxdogy  for  tlie  fact,  quite  evident  to  tht- 
writer,  that  she  will  not  be  able  to  make  the  story  of 
modern  ^\'estport  as  interesting  to  other  people  as   it 


HLSTORY  or  WKSrroUT  lii7 

lia.s  aiifiiilii!|^ly  been  to   liersclf.     And   so  now  to  our 
story. 


1785-1800. 

The  first  permanent  settlement  upon  the  soil  of  West- 
))ort  was  made  on  the  lalce  sliore,  at  Barber's  Point,  not 
far  from  the  i)resent  site  of  the  liglit-lionse.  The  lake 
at  this  place  is  less  than  two  niiles  M-itle,  and  the  first 
settler  came  from  Yeroiont  shore,  landing  on  the  sontli 
side  of  the  point.  He  liad  travelled  all  the  way  from 
Harrington,  Litchfield  county,  Connecticut,  a  distance 
of  over  two  hnndrHd  miles.  He  must  have  bought  liis 
land  of  Gilliland,  as  he  settled  upon  Bessboro.  \Yhy 
lie  came  wt^  (;annot  tell.  1  in  mediately  after  the  Eevo- 
tion  there  was  a  wonderful  impulse  of  pioneering  and 
emigration  which  was  felt  all  o'ser  ^sew  England,  lead- 
ing men  to  forsaki:!  their  old  homes  and  plunge  into  the 
wihlerui^ss  as  their  fathers  had  done  before  thorn.  Thi-i 
first  settler  canut^t  have  carried  an  elabor;ite  outfit,  but 
he  had  at  least  a  gun  and  an  axe,  to  protect  him  from 
wihl  beasts  and  to  make  a  clearing  on  the  edge  of  the 
foi'cst.  And  to-day  you  may  find  his  great-great-grand- 
children on  ii  part  of  the  land  that  he  (deared. 

This  man  was  Major  Hezekiah  Barber.  He  was  ii 
major  of  militia  in  Connecticut,  and  always  retained 
his  title.  He  came  first  in  the  spring  or  summer  of 
17So,  and  worked  at  clearing  the  land  until  winter  came 
on,  when  he  went  back  to  Connecticut.  The  next  ye^r 
he  rt'turned  with  his  wife's  broth. -r,  L-ni  Frisbie,  an  1 


1(>S  inSTORY  OF  WKSTPORT 

the}-  woiktHl  togetlier,  cuttiii^^  wood  all  winter,  liviLg  in 
a  bark  shauty  ami  building  a  log  cabin  near  the  shore, 
of  "ba^swood  logs  split  in  the  middle,  and  laid  with  the 
fiat  sides  up."  Another  cabin  was  also  built  as  a  shel- 
ter for  cattle.  In  the  sj.ring  of  1787  the  young  wife  of 
Major  Hezekiah,  whose  maiden  name  had  been  Hulclah 
Trisbie,  came  all  thai  long  journey  from  Connecticut  on 
liorseback,  carrying  her  first  baby  in  her  arms,  and 
took  possession  of  the  logdiouse.  The  household  goods 
rdso  came,  in  one  load,  drawn  by  oxen.  The  first  crops, 
raised  were  put  in  with  a  "grub  hoe"  in  tlie  spaces  bt- 
tween  the  blackened  stumi)s  of  the  clearing.  Grain 
\vas  carried  to  Middlebury,  in  Vermont,  to  be  ground, 
and  as  only  one  horseback  load  could  be  carried  at  a 
time,  the  fanjily  often  ground  their  own  corn  in  a  large 
"Indian  mortar"  ^-liich  was  found  somewhere  near,  witli 
i.n  iron  pcsth'.  Tiicir  nearest  neighbors,  who  must 
have  come  soon  after  the  P.arbers,  were  a  family  named 
Ferris,  living  in  a  log  house  at  Coil's  bay,  near  Eay- 
mond's  old  settlement.  There  was  also  the  Ferris  fam- 
ily directly  arn;ss  the  lake,  at  Arnold's  bay,  who  had 
settled  there  before  the  llevolutiou. 

When  He/.ekiah  Darbor  first  came,  this  bit  of  earth 
vhich  we  now  call  ^^  estj^ort  was  merely  an  unnamed 
fraction  of  the  immense  county  called  AYashiugton 
which  covered  botii  sides  of  Lake  Champlain.  After 
lie  had  been  hen-  tlnve  years,  (that  is,  in  1788.)  the 
county  of  Clintcn  was  formed,  comprising  the  present 
territory  of  K-,>f\  .-uid  Clinton  counties  and  a  part  of 
Franklin.     Thr  .•..nuty  ..oat   of  this  large  countv   wa> 


iiisTonY  OF  wh-srroirr  ihu 

Plattsburgli,  and  it  was  divided  iuto  four  towns.  Tlu- 
t'.wii  ill  which  Barber  lived  was  Cr(.)wn  Point,  uj'-asur- 
111^  about  uiue  iiundred  square  ttiiles,  and  eovrrin^  all 
tilt'  southern  part  of  the  present  Essex  count}-.  The 
lirst  town  meeting  was  hehl  in  Decendjor  of  178S,  at 
d'iconderoga,  and  if  Barber,  and  the  t\vc>  or  throi>  other 
men  who  may  liave  been  at  the  Point  and  at  Raymond's 
^iilU  at  that  time,  voted  at  al),  they  v/ent  jn  a  boat  to 
'J'i  to  do  it.  The  election  way  held  in  ilie  "old  King's 
.■>torc,"  a  quaint,  low-roofed  stone  buikling  o\\  the  s]n_"^rt^ 
of  the  lake,  which  hud  been  erected  bv  the  Trench  in 
1755,  when  they  built  Fort  Carillon;  At  the  time  of 
the  town  meeting  this  buildiijg  was  occu[)ied  by  Judge 
Charles  Hay,  a  brother  of  that  Col.  Udney  Hay  whoi-e 
allidavit  we  have  seen  in  regard  to  the  Ilaymoijd  settle- 
nient. 

"Whei!  Barber  had  been  here  ten  years  (179."))  the 
.'lumber  of  voters  in  the  wh(de  gre-d  county  of  Clin- 
ton was  only  six  hundred  ami  twenty-four.  When  lu 
]jad  been  here  thirteen  years,  enough  settlers  had  conu' 
in  to  justify  the  formation  of  thetownof  Elizabethtown, 
^•onijnising  the  present  townships  of  Elizabethtown  and 
Wfstport.  The  first  town  meeting  was  held  April  i), 
17113,  "at  the  duelling  house  of  David  Callender,"  wliicli 
])robably  stood  somewhere  west  (»f  the  I'dack  rivei. 
That  Hezekiiih  Barber  went  to  this  town  meeting  we 
iiiay  safeh'  infer  from  the  fact  that  he  was  elected  to 
three  otBces.     Th-e  list  of  town  officers  is  as  follows  : 

Supervisor,  Ebenezer  A?nold  ;  clerk,  Sylvan  us  Lob- 
Jell  ;    us^^essors,    J:icol>    SoutLiwe)],    David    Callender, 


170  uisTOHY  OF  Mi-:srr()irr 

Nurmaii  Xewell  ;  overscer-s  of  the  pooi',  .Jonuthari  Bitck- 
inridge,  Hozekiab  Barber ;  coustablo  aud  ct>lleetor, 
Nathaii  Lewis ;  constable,  Thomas  Hinckley  ;  school 
commissioners,  E.  Xywell,  William  Kellogg,  Hezckiah 
Barber  ;  overseers  of  highways,  (luunbeved  from  one  to 
ten,)  John  S;inty,  X.  Hinckley,  John  Potter,  S.  Lob- 
dell,  Joseph  Duraud,  Simeon  Durand,  Jacob  Seture, 
Joseph  Bangbnrn,  E.  Xewcll,  Stephen  Eldridge.  Fence 
Viewers,  Hezekiab  Barber,  Elijah  Bishop,  Elijah  Bich. 

No  doubt  the  town  oilices  were  distributed  imparti- 
ally to  all  piirts  of  the  township,  and  this  list  })robably 
includes  eveiy  man  tit  to  hold  office  in  its  whole  area. 
AVe  may  imagine  this  first  town  meeting  as  bearing  a 
general  resemblance  to  the  one  first  held  in  the  immor- 
tal town  of  Dan%  is,  as  reported  by  Bowland  E.  Bobiu- 
son,  in  the  words  of  the  veteran  ranger,  Gran'ther  Hill. 

"Not  over  twenty  on  us.  all  told  ;  au'  we  hel'  it  in  a 
log  barn  'at  stooil  t'other  side  the  river,  on  Moses  Beii- 
ham's  pitchy  an'  we  sot  raoaud  on  the  log  mangers,  an/ 
the  dark  writ  on  the  head  of  a  potash  berril.  We 
hodn't  no  sech  tix-ui'i^ances  as  these  'ere,"  poniidiug 
the  seat  with  his  fist  ;  "an'  as  fur  that  'ere,"  punching 
the  stove  with  his  cane,  ''we  jest  stomped  raound  t«> 
keep  warm,  an'  ditlu't  fiwl  away  much  time  no  louger'n 
we  was  'bleegeil  ti^." 

For  the  lu-xt  two  years,  1700  and  1800,  the  super- 
vis(M'  was  "E.  Newell,"  iprol-ably  Ebenezer).  In  ISQi  it 
was  Elijah  Bi^iiop,  in  1802  Charles  Goodrich,  aud  froni 
180:^  to  ISiK'i  it  was  none  other  than  our  friend  Heze- 
Jv.iai;.     'I'liU--  W'.-  >e-.'  tliat  he  attained  the  crowning  am- 


msroin'  of  WKsrpoirr  ni 

!  i:i.»ii  of  eveiT  good  American  cltizcu—tbat  of  hoiu^^ 
.  uot.cl  supervisor  of  his  oww  towu,— and  tliat  he  hehl 
•Im-  onice  threft  years.  In  1799  Essex  county  had  boeu 
f.'vuied,  with  the  county  seat  at  Kssex,  and  so  uiieu  e 
-.it  in  council  with  the  other  supervisors  iu  the  county, 
hv  \\ flit  to  Essex,  •  an<l  it  is  luore  Ihaii  likelv  tliat  \w 
w.-nded  his  way  thither  in  a  boat,  perhaps  iu  liis 
"•.vn  ferry  boat,  wldcli  furnished  him  a  f^ood  incotue  car- 
rying,'passengers  and  freiglit  across  the  lake.  Hu  lived 
tive  years  after  his  jast  term  as  supervisor,  dving  iu 
l^U),  and  he  vv-as  buried  at  the  Point,  only  a  feu-  steps 
li-'U)  the  place  where  he  landed  twenty-five  years  be- 
tf'ie.  Iu  that  twenty -five  years  he  had  seen  a  great 
*-li;inge  come  over  the  face  of  the  country,  from  utter 
^^l!dness  and  desolation  to  a  fair  degree  of  eixilization. 
At  the  time  of  his  death  the  centre  of  population  for  the 
>liureof  the  town  was  at  Barber's  Point,  the  settlement 
■■'.  Coil's  Mills  being  then  larger  than  that  at  Northwest 
J!;ty.  The  first  steamer  on  the  Jake,  (and  the  second 
ill  the  world.)  had  been  bnilt  two  years  before  he  died, 
'■iiid  made  a  regular  landing  at  the  Point,  but  jjone  at 
thf  Bay.* 

•Hc/.ekiah  Barber  had  si.v  children,  and  ns  they  all  married  and  seUUd  here.  th« 
i  iriuly  record  in  it:.e!f,  if  given  in  fuji,  would  rnaks  a  chapter  of  town  history.  The 
■'l-irst.Jcrusbi,  married  Alexander  Younjf,  who  settJcd  on  the  north  sJiore  of 
^  o  :nic's  bav,  and  buiila  house  where  .Mr.  Ben  Wormm's  farm  houv;  no-.v  stands. 
r>i:s  hjuse  was  burnej.  and  rebuilt  by  Andrew  Fnsbie,  son  of  Levi  Alexander 
Vounsr  had  a  ship-y.ird  in  the  bay,  ;ind  the  ruina  of  his  wharf  may  stili  be  seen. 

J  SaUy  iu;irried  Gideon  Hanimond,  sou  oi  Xathan,  and  lived  on  thebiick  road, 
■•»  here  Ruih  Howard  rvow  lives. 

J.  nezekiah  K.arried  Maria,  daufrhtcr  of  Til!  n^liabt  Cole,  v.ho  Uvcd  on  the. 
i-i'«.f  road,  on  the  place  now  occupied  by  his  jjre.it  jfrznd>on.  llepry  Merrill.  One 
.'<'■:  vrbiM-o.nvved  Major  Ho -ekj.ih  after).:^  .^r.uuifatJ.er,    siiU   !i^e,ona  oart 


J  72  JUS  TO  in'  OF  WKSTJ'U/rr 

In  followiug  the  life  of  our  first  settler,  -we  now  tju.l 
ourselves  years  ahead  of  the  story  of  all  Westport,  but 
our  steps  are  easily  retraced. 

Another  very  early  settlor  upon  the  lake  shore  was 
•James  King,  at  Book  Harbor.  He  is  described  as  "an 
English  lu^ister  sailor,"  and  so  must  have  known  the 
smell  of  salt  water,  but  he  was  content  to  nso  his  skill 
upon  tiiese  tidoless  waters  iu  sailiiig  tlie  ferry  boat 
which  plied  from  shore  to  shore  between  Basin  Har- 
bor and  Ixock  Harbor. 

The  ferries  were  an  important  factor  iu  the  develop- 
ment of  this  regiou.  They  were  to  early  Westport 
what  a  railroad  is  to  a  new  western  town.  The  ferry  at 
Barber's  Point,  this  one  at  Iiock.  Harbor  and  one  es- 
tablished by  McNeil,  running  from  Charlotte  to  Essex, 
were  all  opened  at  nearly  the  same  time,  and  accom- 
modated a  rapid  stream  of  travel  flowiug  from  New 
England  into  Essex  corinty.  Before  the  ferries  ran,  em- 
igrants uore  ol)liged  to  trust  to  the  chances  of  hiring 
boats  wlien  they  reached  the  lake  shore,  unless  tlu-y 
came  with  their  own  bateaux,  like  Gilliland,  whieli  was 
too  expensive  for  the  ordinary  traveller. 

oj  the  origin.!'  Biijber  proptTtv.  Another,  Mrs.  Harriet  Shcklon,  has  been  of 
j;rcal  assistance  in  preparing  the  sketch  of  Barber's  Point. 

4.  ALinion  married  Harriet  Hasketl,  anil  his  daughter  Maria  married  Ruel 
Arnold.  They  lived  in  the  brick  house  on  the  middle  road  now  owned  by  the 
Westi)ort  Katms. 

J.     RhotU  married  John  Chan.lJer. 

I"..  Harriet  i;:arricd  iwicr.  >ler  first  husband  was  Amos  Hokoinb,  and  her 
daukfhlir  Huldah  taught  school  in  what  was  perhaps  the  first  school  house  in  town, 
on  thr  south  iuie  of  the  road  to  the  ferry.  Her  second  husband  was  Asahel  Ha.- 
\en»,  the  ferrvir^n,  who  lived  near  the  .ste.iuib^at  v/harf  at  Northwest  B-ny. 


lusTORY  OF  wsirrmirr  ir.i 

Watson  says,  in  bis  history  of  the  county,  "Li  179i>, 
rhitt  Rogers  cstaV)lishe(l  a  ferry  from  Basiu  Harbor, 
aiul  constructed  a  road  from  tlie  jandiiig  to  a  point  neai 
Split  Rock,  where  it  connectj:'d  with  the  road  made  in 
an  early  period  of  the  settlement.  He  erected,  in  tlie 
same  season,  a  bridge  over  the  Roquet,  at  "\A'ill.sboru 
falls,  and  constructed  a  road  from  tliat  place  t(»  Peru, 
in  Clinton  county.  These  services  were  remunerated 
I'y  the  state,  through  an  ai)propriation  to  Rogers  and 
his  associates,  of  a  large  tract  from  the  public  lauds." 
Rogers  also  built  the  first  bridge  over  the  Ausalde  river, 
at  the  Chasm. 

James  Ring  remained  at  Rock  Harbor  only  a  few- 
years.  His  wife's  maiden  name  was  Surah  Black.  In 
1791  their  second  daughter  was  born  at  Rock  Harbor 
und  named  Sarah  after  her  mother.  Two  years  after 
this  the  family  moved  to  Brookfield,  in  Essex,  and  there 
King  died.  The  daughter  born  in  Westp<.)rt  grew 
np  to  marry  one  of  the  Essex  Staltbrds,  and  not 
quite  a  hundred  years  after  she  was  born  at  liock  Har- 
bor her  grandson  came  to  Westport  to  settle  in  the 
jtlace  as  a  physician, — Dr.  Frank  T.  DeLauo.  He  has 
told  me  that  his  grandmother  was  accustomed  to  relate 
the  fact  that  of  her  having  been  born  at  Rock  Harbor, 
and  he  has  an  impression  that  James  Ring  Cvime  to  the 
place  several  \ears  before  that  event,  so  that  we  have 
proof  of  his  having  been  one  of  the  earliest  settlers, 
though  probably  not  earlier  than  Hezekiah  Barber. 

Sometime  between  1701  and  1798  ca.meDaniel  Wright, 
from  (liJbUni,  N.  H.,  with   his  fauiilv  and   his   wurldlv 


174  JIIS'IOUY  OF  wKsri'nirr 

goods.  After  crossing  t]jo  Connecticut  river  Le  must 
have  followed  the  road  aci-oss  Vermont  which  was  fust 
opened  by  Sir  Jo(l>ry  Amherst,  the  summer  of  17;V.> 
from  Chimney  Point  to  the  Connecticut.  Wright  prob- 
ably came  along  the  lake  shore  to  Easiu  Harbor  and 
thel-G  took  the  ferry  to  Eock  Harbor  and  then  toiled 
over  the  "Bildad  road"  across  the  Split  Eock  range. "•• 

At  last  he  c.-ur.e  to  the  farm  lie  had  chosen,  as  stony 
and  rough  as  the  uplands  of  New  Hampshire  which  he 
liad  left,  on  the  western  slo[>e  of  the  mountains,  over- 
looking tlie  fertile  valley  of  the  Boquet,  with  the  level 
clearings  of  Essex  and  AA'illsboro  in  the  distance,  and 
the  Green  mountains  beyond  the  glimpse  of  the  lake. 
Here  ho  settled  and  cleared  the  laud,  which  remained 
in  the  family  to  the  time  of  his  grandchildren.  It  is 
now  occupied  by  Mrs.  Elbridge  Lawrence. 

Daniel  Wright  is  a  fiue  example  of  the  early  settlers 
of  Essex  county.  Ho  and  his  wife  came  first  from 
Connecticut,  like  Ih.-  lloleombs,  the  Frisbies,  the  Bar- 
bers and  tlie  Lovolar.d^.  He  was  born  in  T^ebauon, 
Conn.,  in  17.37,  and  his  wife.  Patience  Bill,  was  born  in. 
Hebron  in  tiio  same  year.  They  moved  to  Gilsum,  X. 
H.,  and  there  he  served  three  3-ears  in  the  Continental 
Line.  He  fought  at  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  served 
eight  ujonths  in  177.!>  in  the  regiment  of  the  famous  Col- 
John  Stark,  (who  Inul  .seen  our  shores  as  one  of  Roarers" 


•rhli  was  rlx  ufartsl  way,  but  it  would  seem  that  it  mit;!'.t  have  been  easier  to 
coi:ie  by  wuv  ot  Kssex.  It  is  .lUvays  interesting  to  tr.Ace  th.;  route  followed  by  the 
IJionecrs  when  they  rirst  pvn^tr;ited  into  1his  trackless  region.  In  the  winter  of 
i7gj  Sli.^htn  Ktcsc  cj.Mc  from  Columbia  county  to  Peru,  (north  of  Bessboro]  ot!> 
The  ire,  a',.'',  took  Ajv.ir,t.pj;.:  o£  the  le-  (.1  hl;<hwiy  of  the  irozcn  lake. 


nisT(>RY  or  M'KSTrnirr  i7.~, 

lUiU'^evs  hi  the  "old  Freuch  war,")  all  the  year  177r> 
iiiiJor  Col.  Sanuiel  Ilecd,  aud  iu  June  of  1777  his  uuqu- 
appears  iu  a  New  Hampshire  regimeut  which  was  sent 
•*to  reiDforce  tlie  Contiueutal  Army  at  Ticoiidero^a." 
Tliis  was  wheu  Burgoyue's  army  was  advauciui;  up 
Lake  Cbamplaiu,  sending  out  the  proclamation  \\  hieh 
sfi  aroused  the  country.  On  the  5th  of  July  St.  Clair 
.-vacuated  Ticonderoga,  and  fled  to  the  south,  pursued 
l>y  Burgoyne.  Thus  Daniel  Wright  was  iu  this  Meeing 
army,  and  also,  it  is  probable,  saw  another  turn  iu  the 
fortunes  of  war  in  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne  at  Sara- 
toga. 

He  came  into  "Westport  a  man  about  forty  years  of 
age,  with  an  honorable  record  of  military  service  and 
the  rank  of  Lieutenant.  On  March  25,  1802,  lie  was  com- 
missioned 2nd  Major  "of  a  regiment  of  militi;i  of  the 
<-ounty  of  Essex,  whereof  Joseph  Sheldon,  Esq.,  is 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Commandant,"  by  Gov.  George 
Clinton.  In  1806  he  was  made  1st  Major  of  his  regi- 
uient,  aud  in  1807  Lt.-Col.  Commandant.  In  1811  he 
Mas  raised  to  tlie  high  raidi  of  Brigadier  General  of 
3Iilitia'in  the  Counties  of  Essex,  Clinton  and  Franklin, 
and  held  this  responsilde  ])Ositiou  throughout  the  war 
of  1812,  where  we  shall  meet  him  aaaiu." 


*General  Wright  was  accompanied  to  We-tport  by  but  one  child,  his  duughter 
jcrusha,  u-ho  was  born  July  17,  17SS,  and  married  De£.  22,  1795,  to  Kli,is  Slurtevant, 
0  )rn  at  Plymouth,  Mass  ,  June  4,  i7fS^,  s'ln  of  CorneliuB  and  Sarali  (Bosworth) 
Sturtevant.    They  had  seven  chi;dren,  all  born,  I  think,  111  Westp^rt 

I.  Daniel  Wrijfht  Sturlcvant,  born  ij.S,  waa  a  physician,  and  practiced  some 
years  in  Westport  and  in  Essex  ;  afterward  went  west,  and  died  in  Galesburp,  Hi. 

I  UarriL-t,  late  10  life,  betan?e  Ibe  third  wife  of  Dr.  DiaJorus  Holcomb,  Nc 
•'htidrf:. 


170  HISTOHY  OF  WKSTm/ri 

At  tlio  saniG  tiino  with  the  settlements  cilong  the  Like 
shore,  pioue*  rs  ^vol•e  eomiug  iu  to  the  valleys  of  tiie  lio- 
quet  aud  the  Black.  The  strip  of  laud  called  Pleasant 
Yalle}',  aloug  the  former  river,  was  granted  Piatt  Pogers 
from  the  state  on  condition  of  its  being  irnmediatelv 
settled,  and  every  efibrt  was  made  to  induce  reliable 
men  to  come  in,  fathers  of  families  if  passible,  sober,  in- 
dustrious, likely  to  remain  and  to  pay  for  their  faruis. 
On  this  account  tlie  sale  or  grant  of  large  portions  of 
public  lands  to  one  man,  or  to  a  land  compan}-  whose 
prosperity  depended  upon  the  revenue  derived  from  the 
payment  of  settlers  for  their  farms,  was  a  real  advan- 
tage to  anew  eouutr}-.  Nothing  could  bring  alx)ut  so 
bad  a  condition  of  things  as  laud  free  to  any  squatter, 
who  felt  no  obligation  to  improve  his  farm,  and  who 
might  be  dispossessed  at  any  rooment  bj*  a  second 
comer  who  had  a  stronger  arm  or  was  a  better  shot 
than  he.  I  tind  no  traces  of  a  squatter-and-lynch-lav.- 
pericKl  iu  the  tirst  setllument  of  EHzabethtown  aud 
Westport.       Men    came    in    from    the    older   colonics, 


3.  George  VV.,  always  known  as  "Deacon  Sturtevant,"  from  his  long  tenure  oS 
that  office  in  tiie  Conijre»fation;il  church  at  Wadhains.  He  married  Clonnd.i 
Phelps,  and  had  three  chlKlren.  Elinund,  (lived  in  Vineland,  N.J.,)  Ci-irrie  .Maria' 
aud  Harriet,  who  marrieil  Dr.  P..ase,  a  missionary  to  Micronesia. 

4.  Sophjonia,  untnariLtd. 

5.  John  Sturtevant  also  bore  the  title  of  Deacon  for  many  years,  fillin;^  that  office 
in  a  Congregation  il  church  in  G  isport,  N'.  Y.  He  married  .Mary  Royce,  daug^htcr 
of  William  and  .\nna  Ulo.-iryJ  Royce,  a^xl  had  seven  children,  Daniel  Writjh:, 
Henry  Kuc.  (.Mrs.  Granville  CUrk),  Mary,  Williim  Royce,  Gesr^je  W.  an  1 
Alice  Linda  (Mrs  Webster  Koyce).  The  cnly  dsscendants  of  General  Wri-hc 
now  livir.K  in  Es-,ex  County  are  William  K.  Sturtevant  and  .Mrs.  Webster  Royce. 

6.  Elmira  iT--irned  .Mr.  .Marshall. 

7.  .M.irii  ■ii.irriud  EJiiiJiid    D.ty.  and    b,iA  three,  children,    Chirle^,    He.len   a.-.". 


ji/SToin'  or  ]v/:sTPoirr  jtt 

l»ouglit  laii<l,  built  homes,  aud  set  tliemselves  to  ubiJe 
by  laws  which  they  took  prido  in  inakinc;'.  Town 
otFicors  were  elected  at  the  earliest  possible  op)Doi-- 
timit}',  and  among  them  were  three  men  whose  dutv 
it  was  to  attend  to  schools  for  the  children.  This 
shows  in  it-self  tiio  character  of  t)ie  new  township,  ami 
it  is  plain  that  it  would  naturally  attract  to  itself  only 
law-abiding  citizens. 

The  common  route  for  settlers  from  the  south  was 
by  the  valleys  of  the  vSchroou  and  the  Boqnet.  In  this 
way  came  many  from  Dutchess  county,  like  Joseph 
Jenks,  who  settled  first  at  Pleasant  Yalley,and  afterward 
moved  to  Northwest  Day.  The  water  power  of  the 
swift  flowing  Black  river  was  a  great  attraction,  and  a 
rude  little  saw  mill,  wdiere  the  logs  from  the  clearings 
ould  be  cut  up,  was  a  very  desirable  neighbor.  Partly 
on  this  account  the  highlands  of  the  back  p;irt  of  the 
town  came  to  be  settled  very  early.  Auotlier  reason  was 
the  character  of  the  soil.  It  is  well-known  that  the 
first  settlers,  as  a  rule,  sought  the  high,  sandy  lands  in 
preference  to  the  clay  of  the  low  lands  on  the  lake  shore. 
The  light  loam  was  much  more  easily  worked,  and  for 
a  number  of  years  would  be  more  productive  than  the 
heavier  soil.  The  water  supply  was  sure  to  be  good, 
among  the  mountain  springs,  and  it  was  always  a  wise 
])rocaution  to  avoid  the  malaria  of  low-lying  marshes. 
In  those  days  there  was  far  more  moisture  in  the  soil 
everywhere  than  there  is  now,  since  the  country  has 
been  stripped  of  its  forests.  Another  thing  that  might 
well  be  Considered  in  the  vears  close  followinL;-  the  licv- 


27S 


mSTORY  OF  WE  ST  PORT 


olution  was  the  fact   that  the   setth-^r's  cabin  was  safer 
from  enemies,  red  or  white,  if  it   were   hiddeu  deep   in 
the  forest,  that  it  could  ho  if  built  upon  the  lake  shore, 
ID  sight  of  passing  war  parties  or  scouts.     This  idea 
was  suggested  by  the  historian  Francis  Parkman    in  a 
conversation  with  Mrs.  F.  L.   Lee  upon  tliis  subject  a 
r.uinber  of  years  ago.     The  substance  of  the  conversa- 
tion was  giv^n.  to  tlie  writer  by  Mrs.  Lee,  and  tlie  clear- 
ness of  Mr.  Parkman's  insight  will   be  fully   perceived 
when  it  is  remembered  how  the  defeat  of  St.   Clair  in 
Ohio  in  1791  sent  a  shudder  of  fear  through  the  heart 
of  every  frontiersman,  lest  the  western  Indians  should 
combine  with  the  Six  Nations,  and   the   scenes  on  the 
older  frontiers  be  repeated  in  the  Champlain  valley. 

Thus  we  have  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  a 
distinct  advance  from  the   stretch    of  primeval   forest 
threaded  by  Pobert  Eogcrs  and  his  men  in   the  "old 
French  war."     Xow  there  are  mills   and   clearings,    the 
wood-chopper's  axe  scarcely  ever  sounding  beyond  the 
reach  of  human  ear,    log    cabins    among   the' stumps 
crops  of  corn  and  ]>otatoes  harvested  every  year,  and  a 
few  domestic    animals,  shielded  with  great  ingenuity 
and  patienco  from  the  wihl  animals   who  still  roam    thr 
woods.     Honies  and  children,  and  a  promise  of  schools 
-all  this  with  new  settlers  coming  in   from   the  south 
or  the    east    m    a    steady    stream.     It  seems  to  me  a 
good  time  to  have  lived  in  Westport,  in  spite  of  the  I(Kr- 
houses  and  the  wolves.     Any  one  who  has  ever  felt  tlu- 
charm  of  caujpingout,  or  who  has  experienced   the  un- 
>hakablc  bl...  ..f  setting  up  housekeeping  for   the   tir.t 


ITISTOnr  OF  WKSTl'ORT  IT.t 

tiine,  cfin  appreciate  the  keen  flavor  that  there    must 
have  been  in  these  early  days. 

Besides  \.\\^.  signs  of  human  life  and  occu|)atiou  which 
were  beginniug  to  cliaDge  the  face  of  the  land,  a  new 
era  could  be  plainly  read  in  the  life  upon  the  water. 
The  Indian  bark  canoe,  the  whale  boats  of  the  Rangers, 
the  bateaux  of  Montcalm  and  Amherst,  then  Arnold's 
sturdy  fighting  craft,  with  the  gallant //?/A;.c//y't'  and  her 
sister  ships  riding  triumphant,  ruling  all  the  lake,  fol- 
lowed by  the  martial  splendor  of  the  fleet  of  Burgoyne, 
led  by  the  twenty-four-gun  lionnl  Georrjc,  all  these,  and 
many  a  keel  uuraentioned  in  any  record,  had  floated  in 
the  waters  of  our  bay.  Now  nothing  but  the  humble 
ferry-boat,  making  its  way  from  shore  to  shore  with 
freight  of  household  goods,  or  tlie  heavy  scow  of 
some  fisherman  catching  his  dinner  of  fish,  was  seen. 
This  is  not  nearly  so  interesting  to  read  about  as  the 
stories  of  more  stormy  times,  but  it  was  a  vast  deal 
more  comfortal^le  for  the  people  who  lived  liore.  Bar- 
ber at  the  Point  and  Iling  at  Rock  Harbor  saw  each 
other's  sails  swing  and  fill  in  the  same  wind,  or  flap  idlv 
against  the  mast  in  a  maddening  calm.  Further  down 
the  lake  another  sail,  that  of  McNeil,  ferrying  from 
Charlotte  to  Essex,  might  be  discerned,  and  the  pirogue 
of  the  proprietors  of  the  colony  upon  the  Saranac  made 
its  trips  to  the  ore  bed  and  back  again,  carrying  ore  to 
snpply  the  forge  which  was  the  pride  of  the  Saranac, 
and  then  carrying  to  the  south  the  iron  which  brought 
the  owners  a  hundred  dollars  a  ton.  The  ore  bed  was 
tJie  one  which  wu    now    cdl    "the    CJofl'   bed."     Bhilij.. 


180  HISTORY  OF  WJJISTPORT 

Skene  first  owned  it,  and  at  the  time  of  which  we  now 
write  it  was  called,  on  that  account,  "Skene's  ore  bed," 
though  it  had  belonged  to  the  state  since  the  confisca- 
tion of  Skene's  property.*  It  was  also  often  called  the 
"Crown  Point  bed,"  and  it  lies  upon  territory  which 
belonged  to, the  town  of  Westport  until  1819. 

The  "piropjue"  of  the  Plattsburgh  proprietors  was 
the  same  khid  of  vessel  c;dled  in  Cooper's  novel,  the 
"Water  Witch,"  a  "periagua,"  and  thus  described  : 

"The  periagua,  as  the  craft  was  called,  partook  of  a 
European  and  an  American  character.  It  possessed 
the  length,  narrowness,  and  clean  bow  of  the  canoe, 
from  which  its  name  was  derived,  with  the  flat  bottom 
and  lee-boards  of  a  boat  constructed  for  the  shallow 
waters  of  the  Low  Countries.  Twenty  years  ago 
(Cooper  was  writiug  in  1830)  vessels  of  this  description 
abounded  in  our  rivers,  and  even  now  their  two  long 
and  unsupported  masts,  and  high,  narrow  lieaded  sail. 
are  daily  seen  bending  like  reeds  to  the  breeze,  and 
dancing  lightly  over  the  billows  of  the  bay. 

♦Philip  Skene  had  a  forge  at  his  colony  of  Skenesborough,  at  the  head  of  Lake 
Chaniplain,  and  I  do  not  know  where  he  got  the  iron  ore  with  which  to  supply  it 
unless  he  brought  it  from  his  own  ore  bed  near  Crown  Point.  The  ore  was  easily 
obtained  from  outcrv">piiin<i  ledgres,  near  the  water's  edg^e,  and  its  transportation  in 
bjats  was  no  great  problem.  If  this  conjecture  has  any  foundation  In  truth,  the 
P!attsbur;{h  company  were  not  the  first  miners  here. 

In  connection  with  this  subject  Mr.  WinslowC.  Watson  made  a  slight  mistake 
somethiDij  very  unusual  in  his  careful  and  conscienUous  work.  On  page  439  of 
his  History  of  Ksser  County  he  quotes  from  a  letter  "of  the  late  Levi  Hi^bv,  of 
WilUboro,"  as  fallows:  "A  bed  at  Basin  Harbor,  owned  by  Piatt  Rogers,  was  the 
only  deposit  of  iron  ore  which  at  that  period  (iSoi)  had  been  developed  in  the  whole 
region. "  A  little  rcrlertion  upon  the  gcolojirical  formation  of  the  Vermont  lit- 
toral will  show  tJ-at  it  is  no  place  tc  loiik  for  deposits  of   iron   ore,   and  a    visit    to 


JITSTORY  OF  WESTPOllT  jsi 

"There  is  a  variety  of  the  class  of  a  size  and  preteu- 
sion  altoj^ether  superior  to  that  just  mentioned,  which 
deserves  a  place  among  the  most  picturesque  and  strik- 
ing boats  tliat  float.  He  who  has  had  occasion  to  nav- 
igate the  southern  shore  of  the  Sound  must  liave  often 
seen  the  vessel  to  wliieh  we  alhide.  It  is  distin- 
guished b}-'  its  great  length,  and  masts  which 
naked  of  corda-e,  vise  from  the  ]iu]|  like  two  tall  and 
faultless  tree..  When  the  eyes  runs  over  the  daring 
height  of  the  canvas,  the  noble  confidence  of  the  rig° 
^  and  sees  the  comparatively  vast  machine  handled  with 
ease  and  grace  by  the  dexterity  of  two  fearless  and  ex- 
pert mariners,  it  excites  some  such  admiration  as  that 
which  springs  from  the  view  of  a  severe  temple  of  an- 
tiquity. The  nakedness  and  simplicity  of  the  con- 
struction, coupled  with  the  boldness  and  rapidity  of  its 
movements,  impart  to  the  craft  an  air  of  grandeur  that 
Its  ordinary  uses  would  not  give  reason  to  expect  " 

Later  we  find  that  th6"periagua"  of  Cooper's  descrip- 
tion iiad  a  lialf-dcck,  and  so  no  doubt  did  the  vessel  be- 
longing to  the  "twelve  patriarchs."  It  was  this  boat 
which  carried  most  of  the  passengers  to  and  from  Platts- 
burgh,   and  upon  her  deck  might  have  been  met,  at  dif- 

B^in  Harbor  wUl  soon  convince  any  oa.^hat  there  is  not  and  never  could  have 
been  an  TOO  .nine  in  that  vicinity.  But  the  mistake  came  about  in  a  v.ry  natural 
way.  Plat:  Rogers  lived  at  Basin  Harbor,  a.nd  owned  and  worked  the  ore  bed  on 
i-l^enes  grant,  across  the  lake  and  a  few  miles  iurther  south.  Mr.  H.^ibv  who 
wa,  engaged  in  the  tirst  iron  manufacturing  enterprise  of  Essex  county,  knew  per. 
fectly  whence  ca.,e  the  ore  from  which  he  made  anchors  in  WilUhoro,  but  his  let- 
ter was  wruten  after  a  long  lapse  of  years,  and  he  must  hive  been  momentarily 
confused   between  rhe   JwelUng    place  of  Piatt  Rogers  and  the  location  of  h.s  ore 


JS2 


niSTOKY  OF  ]Vi:STPOnT 


fereiit  times,    many   vory   interesting   people.-     There 
Aveie  the  Plaits.  Colonel  Zephaniah,   the    most   distin^ 
guished  of  tliem  all,  and  Captain  Nathaniel,  and  Jud-e 
diaries,  who  was  the  first  comer,  and   who  named   the 
town  of  riattsburgh,    and    from    whose   letters    to   his 
brother  Zepl^aniah  so  many  bits  descriptive  of  the  lake 
country  may  be  gathered.    He  notes  that  the  lake  froze 
over  January  IG  in  1780,  and  that  the  snow  was  thirty- 
two  inches  deep.     Writing  afterward  about   himself  he 
says,  ''At  the  close  of  the  war  I  had  purchased   a  few 
class  rights  of  the  soldiers,  and  having  collected  a  little 
something,  set  out  for  the  woods,  and    after  viewing 
several  places,  1  sat  down    on   the  west  side  of  Lake 
Champlain,   an   entirely  new   countrv   and   wilderness 
and  called  the  town  Platt.burgh."     It  was   this   man's' 
son,  Charles  C.  Piatt,  who  was  afterward  to   marry  the 
daughter  of  our  Elizabeth,  Eliza  Koss.      But  that  is 
looking  years  ahead,  when  the  periagua    was    a  worn- 
out  hulk.     When  she  was  still  in  her  prime,  she  must 
have  earned  ol'ton  tJie  man  who  came  closer  than  any 
other  to  our  history  in  the  years  before  the  Kevolution. 
His  face  was  «'>^^^l^_than^  when   he  looked  from  the 

able  U.at  the  UWr,  a,  the  or.  bed  were  often  slaves.     In  the   census  of    .Scathe 
populauonof  Essex  anj  Clinton  countI,-5Tv=,<:  a--,,    ;   M    ^  o     ,       "    '"^  ^"'^ 

^  '°"  ""'^t^r;s^^  as  So7->.  including-  5S   slaves.    A  ma- 

jomy  of  the  s.aves  w.re  probably  at  Plattsburgh.upon  the  Piatt  esUte.  as  the  fan.- 
..)■  are  ...J  to  have  brought  forty  slaves  to  RichUnds.  It  is  not  believed  that  a 
.lave  was  ever  ow.ed  upon  the  so.l  U  Wostport.  Piatt  Ro,.ers  brought  h;s  slaves 
w.U,h.„.  from  Datchos,  county  to  B,sin  Harbor,  but  they  were  set  f,ee  by  the 
A..ofCongres.v..h.chad„.utc.dVer„>onta,afree.Ute  in  ,791.  Two  of  'these 
saves  Pr,....s.tonn  and. VUly  his  w.f,  spent  the  retnaindc:  of  their  1  v 
lU.n  M.b,.,  f..,:hf...  a...d  beloved  friends  of  the  fa.ily.  and  descendants  of  U.eir 


niSTonr  of  wKsrroirr  i^-v 

deck  of  the  Jf>i>,tjtihionr/e  upon  those  fair  and  noodeel 
shores,  with  wife  and  child  beside  him,  nnd  it  was  but 
a  wandering  and  meUmcholy  gaze  which  he  now  di- 
rected toward  Bessboro.  The  man  who  had  j^erhaps 
sailed  into  North  west  Bay  in  the  schooner  of  Major 
Philip  Skene,,  and  there  stood  by  his  side  listtuing  to. 
tiie  unfolding  of  plans  which  should  make  this  coast 
part  of  a  nrjble  principality,  dependent  only  uj)on  His- 
Majesty  King  George,  now  sat  in  weary  despondency,, 
hardly  realizing  the  truth,  that  the  Charaplain  valley 
now  looked  to  now  masters  for  the  shaping  of  its  des- 
tiny. 

VTillian  Gilliland  had  left  "Willsboro  in  the  wake  of 
the  army  retreating  from  Canada,  in  the  summer  of 
1776.  He  had  been  imprisoned  in  Albany  upon 
a  charge  of  treason,  which  seems  to  have  been 
entirely  unfounded,  and  was  kept  for  years  in  the 
debtors'  prison  of  Xev.-  York.  The  buildirigs  of  tlm 
settlement  at  Milltown  were  destroyed  during  the 
course  of  the  Iiovolution,  chiefly,  it  is  said» 
by  refugees  fleeing  f)-om  the  battle  of  Saratoga,  and 
were  never  rebuilt  by  Giliiland.  From  the  moment 
that  he  was  driven  from  ^^'illsboro  with  his  helpless 
family,  "unmerciful  disaster  followed  fast  and  followed 
faster"  upon  his  footsteps.  The  titles  to  his  large  pos- 
sessions in  land  liad  been  received  from  the  king,  and 
in  many  cases  the  colonial  government  refused  to  recog- 
nize them.  Til  us  deprived  of  his  lanU,  his  chief  source 
of  revenue,  he  was  unable  to  pay  his  debts,  and  found 
iiiuis.lf  in  evil  ca.-,e.     Many  of  his  letters,   written  dur- 


i«rf 


IIISTORV  OF  WEHTPOliT 


iug  Ms  iu.p,.i.,o„„,e.t.  ],avo  been  pveserved,  .„.,  ,et 

feriDg      0„t  "proposal"  to  liis  creditors,  given  in  Wat 
sou  s  '■Pioneers  of  the  Champlain  Valley,"  is  addressed 
o  t.0  n,  eresfng  names  as  opposing  counsel-Brod. 
hoist  Llvingslon  and  Aaron  turr. 

Iiiires  hi.-,  daughter  Kli.abeth,  after  whom  ho  had 
.amedBessboro,u.arried   Daniel   Koss.      If  she   wt' 

bo  o  «a,  first  surveyed,  she  was  twenty-one  at  th.  tin.e 
of  her  raarr,age.  Daniel  Eoss  had  come  from  D  to  "  . 
ounty  to  settle  in  Essex,  and  in  Essex  the  remainc 
of  th  ,r  hves  was  spent.  Thus  the  descendants  of  our 
LI  .abeth  were  the  Bosses  of  Essex,  a  fan,ily  remark- 
ftble  lu  many  ways. 

Keleasedfrom-tl,e  debtors-  prison  in  1791,  Gilliland 
eturned  to  Lake  Champlain  to  spend  his  last  davs  with 
1..S  daughter  Elizabeth.     And  now  the  fact  was"rec 
u,.edt,.ath,s  mind,  once  so  strong  and  commandins 
>as   hopele.s!y   aflee.ed.      Lnprisonment,   losses   and 
"ftermg,    ,njns.„.e    and   hope  deferred,  had  wrou^d, 
he„.  work  upon  h„n.     He   wandered  about  the  tiJd 
«nd  woods  of  Essex  and   Willsboro,   fancvin-  himse  f 
Wk.ntheearlydaysofits  settlement,    ;„d'\ec:;i:" 

si^  t::;::v:r;;:';;o:::'^r."r'""'^*'^"'^"^''^ 

.     ,  ^     ^^^    ^^  judgment  m   certain 

,.raet.eal  n.at.ers.  and  he  >vas  often  consulted  in  re^'d 
o  fi.st  loeat.ons,  ami  early  surveys  and  boundaries" 
h  .  way  he  was  often  of  the  greatest  service  to  the 
'■""1  -"1-y    fo.-d  f„r    ,),.    p„,,,,,,,,.    „„^,   ^^^^j^ 


11 1ST (> in'  OF  wKS'rrojrr  iso 

lands  in  Nortlieru  New  York,  Avbost-.  adiuiiiistrativn 
li.'ad  ill  tliis  region  was  Plati  Tiogers.  Mi'  luggers 
tliouglit  liiglilj  of  Mr.  Gilliland,  knowing  tiie  liistorv  of 
Ids  labor  and  his  misfortunes,  and  often  asked  Ins  ud- 
vicf.  One  day,  about  the  first  of  February,  171)0,  Mr. 
("lilliland  visited  Mr.  Rogers,  going  on  foot  across  the 
fiozen  lake,  as  was  his  habit.  There  was  doubtless  a 
well-beaten  track  from  Essex  to  Basin  Harbor,  as  all 
travel  invariably  took  to  the  level  Hoor  of  the  lake  as  soon 
as  it  was  frozen  sutticiently  to  bear  the  weight  of  a  man, 
and  this  was  the  safest  and  most  direct  route  that  could 
l)f  taken.  The  distance  is  perhaps  ten  miles.  Mr.  Gil- 
liland made  his  visit  to  ^Iv.  Rogers  and  set  out  on  his 
return,  but  was  never  again  seen  alive  after  he  jvassed 
out  of  sight  of  the  windows  of  the  house  at  Bain  Har- 
bitr.  He  must  have  lost  his  way  u])on  the  iee  and 
turned  of^'  upon  the  shore  too  socuj,  wandering  about  in 
the  m(.)untaius  sunth  of  Essex  until  he  sank  an<i  per- 
i^^hed  from  cold  and  exhaustion.  ^Vhen  his  b<jdy  was 
discovered,  several  days  later,  it  was  mournfully  evi- 
<lent  vvhat  a  brave  straggle  he  had  made  for  life.  After 
liis  streiigth  had  failed  him  so  that  lie  was  unable  to 
walk,  he  had  dragged  himself  aJoug  until  the  fiesh  was 
worn  from  his  hands  and  knees.  And  it  was  upon 
Westjiort  soil  that  he  breathed  his  last,  somewhere  near 
t\ie  northern  base  of  Coon  mountain. 

So  died  William  Gilliland,  the  first  colonizer  of 
AVillsboro,  Essex  and  Westport.  Piatt  Rogers  died 
iwo  years  afterward,  at  I'lattsburgh,  and  was  l>uried  at 
j-ix-^jn  llurboi',  in    th.-^'  burial   j'lot    siJU   own-id   by    his 


ISf}  HISTORY  OF  WKSTPOirr 

tles(^eiKlants  (jf  tlie  fonrtli  geiieriition.  With  the  dt^atlj 
of  these  two  rneu,  and  the  end  of  the  century,  the  first 
period  of  settlemeut,  that  of  takiug  up  laud,  may  be 
said  to  liave  ended.  •    .1  '         . 


1800-3  83  5. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  town- 
ship Avas  dotted  with  clearings.  Settlement  had  begun 
at  three  points  on  the  lake  shore,  determined  by  the 
mill  site  at  the  mouth  of  l^a3nnonirs  brook,  and  the  de- 
u^and  for  ferriage  at  Barber's  Point  and  Rock  Harbor. 
Nest  the  high  sandy  land  in  the  northwest  was  bought 
for  farming,  and  rapidly  cleared  and  cultivated.  Then 
settlement  began  at  the  head  of  the  bay,  at  what  exact 
date  we  cannot  t<''l],  but  there  is  no  sign  of  an}-  house 
there  before  tlie  opening  of  the  century.  Economic 
force  overcame  the  instinctive  preference  of  the  pioneer 
for  the  highest  land  he  could  cultivate,  and  led  to  the 
clustering  of  houses  where  the  principal  village  novi- 
stands.  At  this  }>laci,'  was  water  power  for  a  saw  mill 
aiid  a  grist  luili,  an.d  there  was  eager  demand  for  the 
products  of  l^Hh.  A  steady  current  of  emigration 
■was  setting  in  from  the  east  into  Essex  county,  an. I 
for  a  large  sharr  of  it  this  was  the  most  convenient 
jmiut  of  entrance.  Many  early  settlers  at  Pleasant 
Valley,  K.'ene  and  Juy,  coming  from  New  England, 
wished  that  th.-  f.-rry  should  set  th^Mu  ashore  in  the 
bav,  and  >j"a  ihc  -:.'il  from  liasin  Hurltor  cameofteue.v 


'  Jiisrom'  OF  WKsrroirr  j^t 

h.if  tlKiii  to  Ilock  Hjiilu.r.  Tliis  cieutca  a  (U-inan.l  Un 
;'ii  ifj!:,  fur  tlie  shelter  of  tired  travelorKaiul  tlieir  lif;ast.s. 
Ill  tlu'  very  first  years  of  tlu;  century  the  iiule  little 
fi)r,L;es  on  tlie  lioquet  and  the  IJlacl;  sr^uglit  a  port  for 
tlie  shipping  of  their  bar  iron,  and  this  porfc  was  evi- 
dently at  Nortliwcst  Bay.  These  conditions  led  the 
i>\s  uors  of  the  land  to  lay  out  the  plan  of  a  villa-e,  witli 
streets  alou;^  which  lots  were  soon  sold. 

The  owners  of  tlie  land  at  this  time  were  Ananias  and 
Phitt  ].logers,sonsof  Piatt  Rogers,  who  had  died  in  1798, 
atid  his  6on-in-hiw,  John  Halstead.  All  the  land  owned 
iiy  Piatt  Piogers,  Senior,  in  "Westport,  seems  to  have 
fallen  into  the  hainls  of  these  three  men,  but  tlu^  only 
one  who  settled  here  for  life  was  Jcdm  Tlnlstead,  with 
his  wife,  Phebe  Rogers  Halstead.  Lot  Xo.  10,  (Me- 
laneton  Smith's  6i:  the  n;a|)  of  Skene's  Patent,)  seems 
ti'  lia\e  belonged  to  Anardas  and  I'latt  Rrigers,  Jj-.,  and 
Xo.  If),  (Zephaniah  .Piatt's  on  the  map,)  to  John  Hal- 
>tead,  while  Edward  Cole  bought  ujton  Xo.  ]  1,  fXa- 
thaniel  Piatt's). 

The  village  was  laid  out  and  a  map  of  it  drawn  b\- 
Ananias  Rogers,--"  dated  May  23,  1800.  There  were 
thirty-four  lois  and  three  streets,  Washington,  Liberty 

*  This  rcm.irliiibJe  name  is  enoutjh  is  itsc-lf  to  prove  I'uritan  lineaire,  with  its  :ic- 
CQinpunying;  lack  of  a  sense  of  humor.  It  is  to  be  feired  that  the  preseiK  genera- 
tion, with  its  jokes  about  the  "Ananias  corner,"  and  other  tlippancies,  will  need  to 
'.le  remin'ieo  tiiat  there  arc  in  the  New  Testan^enl  two  mtn  of  this  same  name.  The 
hiM^  A.nania.s  lived  in  Jariisaleu'.,  but  there  was  mother  in  O.im.iscus  who  is  thus 
described  :  "And  one  Ananias,  a  devout  man  accerdin^  to  the  law,  having  a  tjood 
report  of  all  the  Jews  which  dwelt  thtre."  Acts  22:1a.  The  i^  an  who  first  !-ur- 
M'Ved  our  villaee  streets  \v,is  n:\iTicd  after  hi-  t:r;ir..,ir:jther,  nnd  lii^  grrindf .lUirr 
r."as  nai'icd  aft-r  An:in;ii  tti  Dama-jCjs. 


jss  nisTO/n'  or  wKSTPOirr 

Hiul  W;it.n-,  the  liisfc  belli--  .evidently  intpjulea  for  tn- 
)iriuci|):il  stve<'t.  It  ran  v. t'stu;U'>l  uj)  tlu^  liill  fi'om  tin 
lake,  auil  at  the  foot  of  it  was  the  ref;-ular  laudijig  for 
the  ft'iry,  as  tlieline  stoarnor  stops  at  the  foot  of  it  now 
every  suinuior  day.  Liberty  Street  lay  parallel  tr> 
Washingt^ni  and  soutli  of  it,  vnuiiiiiL;-  also  to  the  lake. 
This  street  was  not  actually  opened  until  ISoT,  and  to 
tills  day  juiis  only  so  far  oast  as  to  Main  Street.  Tlie 
third  street  was  "Water  Street,  rnuniug  liortli  and  south 
along  the  lake  shore,  and  intersectinf;  Wasliiugton  and 
Liberty.  The  only  part  of  it  no\s  in  use  as  a  street  is 
the  road  leading  from  the  wharf  to  the  "old  stone  n>!ll." 
The  cluster  of  old  buildings  removed  when  the  land 
was  bought  by  the  AVestport  Inn  was  su[)posed  to  stand 
upon    the  aneiont  Wattr  Street. 

The  description  aeeom]iauying  the-  map  speaks  of 
"Was,liingt(nj  street,  sevt;nty-tive  links  wide,  and  Lib- 
«n'ty  street,  each  sixty-tw(j  and  a  half  links  wide,  all 
which  lots  and  ^-Irei-ts  lie  in  range  with  and  parallel  to 
the  sides  and  ends  of  the  dwelling  house  that  is  now 
building  on  the  Uiirthwest  corner  of  Lot  Xo.  1." 

This  house,  the  angl.'s  of  which  oriented  the  streets 
of  the  villagi.',  stood  ujion  the  same  h>t  niuv  occupied 
by  the  Westport  Inn,  close  upon  the  northwest  cornei-. 
It  was  built  !)}•  .John  llal>tead  and  occupied  by  him 
until  his  d.'ath  in  lSl-1,  and  after  that  by  two  genera- 
tions of  his  (bscend.mts.  It  has  been  described  to  me 
as  "a  lo^v  r..d  honsi;,"'  uith  the  front  door  divided  hori- 
zontally in  the  middle,  after  the  old  Dutch  custom, 
f.imiliMr  to  ,f..!:n  U;U'"ad  and    ids    wife    in    their. rest- 


i/iSTf)/:y  OF  wsirrriHrr  jso 

ilmc-e  iunou--  tlic  DtiU-li  f-ettlors  alo'.i.^  tlu-  ITn^lseii. 
This  liall'-door  opi'iird  upon  .lu  "ontiy,"  uoith  of  wliii-li 
was  ii  large  room  usod  as  a  bar-room  .••s  lonj;-  as  tin- 
house  was  used  as  a  tavern.  This  was  for  some  years 
the  largest  room  in  the  village,  and  v.as  tho  common 
place  of  public  assembly.  Tiif  itiiitraut  |)re;ielurs 
who  visited  the-villa.ge  were  wont  to  gather  their  andi- 
encfS  in  this  room,  and  in  the  long  winter  e\enin"s  thu 
frequeiit  and  informal  meetings  of  the  mens'  club  (a 
term  uever  yet  heaitl  in  that  day)  were  liehl  here. 
Ileiiry  Holcomb  went  in  and  out  of  tjje  honse  as  al^ov, 
and  has  told  me  liou-  it  looked  to  him,  and  how  a  row 
of  horse  sheds  st(»od  across  the  road,  v/ith  a  watering 
trough  for  the  use  of  travellers.  He  has  told  me,  t<Mj., 
how  he  robbed  John  Haktead's  cherry  trees  o"  nights, 
ill  the  orchard  back  of  the  house,  and  I  herebv  render 
to  him  full  title  to  all  the  fruit  he  took,  wishing  that  all 
my  aiu-e.^tral  cherries  could  bring  me  in  as  rich  ivturns 
iis  tile  fan  of  hearing  him  tell  al.iout  it. 

This  was  the  first  ii-wnt:  house  in  the  vi!I;igr,  thongh 
there  were  two  or  three  log  houses  thert-  before  it.  Tlu- 
ilesceudants  of  its  builder  moved  it  a  little  wav  to  the 
.>outh,  to  the  present  site  of  the  Westpt)rt  Inn,  and  rt- 
inodeled  it  almost  entirely.  For  several  yeai-s  a  part  of 
itsori.L;iual  walls  formed  the  middle  division  of  tht-  Inn, 
Init  iu  ISOS  the  last  one  of  the  solid  old  tiuilurs  Mas 
removed,  and  now  -'the  old  Halstead  lunise"  is  gone 
from  the  face  of  the  earth.  Stiangc,  strange  to  handh^ 
>'hj.s  old  luaj)  and  think  lu.nv  it-   frailtv    has   de«}jed    de- 


mo  iiiSToRV  OF  WKSTPOirr 

structioli  so  much  nioro  si'cur.'ly  than  tho  housp,  or  th*^ 
hautis  that  mado  it. 

•  Shortly  after  the  first  map  of  the  vilUige  was  drawn, 
ten  more  lots  were  added,  along  the  imagiutiry  AYater 
Street,  but  seem  never  to  liavo  been  sold,  as  all  the  land 
upon  the  water  froiit,  with  the  exception  of  that  close 
about  the  wharf,  remained  in  the  family  until  it  was 
sold  to  tlie  Lake  Champlain  Ore  tt  Iron  company  in 
1808.  This  property  now  forms  the  grounds  of  the 
Westport  Inn. 

In  two  ye:irs'  time  settlement  had  increased  so  rap- 
idly that  another  street  was  necessary,  and^Maiu  Street 
was  laid  out,  and  the  unndjerof  lots  raised  to  sixty-two, 
oil  July  31,  1802.  The  part  of  the  village  thus  mapped 
out  extended  from  the  north  line  of  the  present  Libraiy 
lawu  to  a  point  somewhere  near  the  Arsenal,  and  west- 
ward to  tlic  short  street  v;hich  connects  Washingtoii 
and  Tiibertv.'-^ 


♦  rhc  (irigLnal  (irst  map  o£  ihe  villi^s,  drawn  by  Ananhis  Roj;ers,  is  owned  !v/ 
Miss  Alice  Lee.  It  was  gjiven  her  some  time  a^o  by  the  la.te  Anthony  J.  B.  Ross, 
an  attorney  in  KsstiV,  (;i!ii  ss  doacendant,  by  th<j  way,  of  our  Eiizabvth  GlUilaiid,) 
whose  father  was  aciiuaitiied  with  the  HaisieaJs,  an,.l  probably  had  tlie  map  froi;-i 
them  in  the  settlement  of  so:iie  dispute  over  land  titles.  Acopyof  it  is  still  owned 
by  a  gfreat-grand  dautrhter  of  John  Halstead,  and  upon  this  copy  are  marked  the 
prices  of  the  lots.  They  ranjje  from  $7.00  to  $:;u.co,  and  the  four  lots  in  the  ccrntr 
v.here  John  Italstead's  hou-;e  was  built  are  marked  $>50  00.  this  price  no  doubt  in- 
cludinjj  the  house.  A  niarfjmal  note  <ays.  "Whole  arroum  $3,473  00,"  which  fur- 
n;:.hrs  the  ba-is  (or  an  interesting-  calculation  of  tlie  rise  of  real  estate  since  iVo. 
There  was  a  copy  of  the  village  map  drawn  on  sheepskin,  in  1S19,  by  J.  Collins 
W'ickcr,  whoever  that  nuiy  have  been.  It  was  doubtless  made  by  order  of  the  towr- 
bo-ird,  and  beIon;red  to  the  town,  to  be  kept  with  other  archives  of  this  conunon- 
wealth,  br.t  iccanr.rjt  have  betm  very  carefully  puardid,  as  itv.as  found  by  a  work- 
man, in  a  drawer.  1  think,  in  the  store  o'.  Mr.  Reuben  In^alis,  after  the  ttorc  wa^- 
sold.  T!irre  is  now  a  blue- print  copy  of  the  map,  ciade  to  Miss  Lee's  order  b>{ 
G.eore'!  titcjfory  in  l"~y«ri. 


jiiSTORv  OF  WFsrroirr  j:>i 

Since  the  Hat-bottomed  ferry -boat  whicli  brcuuht  tli.- 
liousehold  goods  of  Jolin  Halstead  across  tlie  lake  may 
hv  called  the  ]Maytlo\ver  of  oui'  villaj^e  historv,  an  ac- 
ooimt  of  his  desccudauts  may  carry  tlie  mind  alo]i<^f 
lines  of  heredity  not  without  interest  to  manv  of  mv 
readers- 
John  Halstead  and  Phebe  his  wife  had  eight  eliildren, 
as  iV)liows  : 

1.  Plcitt  Rogers  Halstead,  born  March  20,  1791,  died 
February  19,  1849,  of  consumption.     He  never  roarried, 

2.  John  Halstead,  died  at  the  age  of  nineteen  of 
consumption. 

H.  Maria  Halstead,  died  at  Iweniy-six  of  consump- 
tion. 

4.  Jacob  Halstead,  born  'March  5,  1800,  drowned 
November  23,  1S25,  with  four  others,  all  on  board  the 
r^chooner  Troy,  which  went  down  in  a  gale  about  mid- 
night,  ofl'  Coil's  Bay.  These  four  older  children  were 
born  at  Ba.sin  Harbor,  and  all  the  family  are  buried  in 
"Westport. 

5.  Phebe  Jane  lived  to  be  four  years  old.  She  must 
have  been  one  of  the  first  children  born  at  Northwest 
Bay. 

0.  The  next  child,,  born  l&OG,  lived  to  be  six  years 
old. 

7.  Caroline  Eliza,  born  August  IS,  1809,  died  in 
Bedford,  N.  Y.,  March  27,  1870,  was  the  only  one  of  all 
^lii.-»  family  who  married. 

8,  George,  born  August  21,  1812,  was  drowned  with 
ii)>-  brother  Jacob  in  the  schooner  7Vo//.  at    the   a^'e   of 


in2       .  in  STORY  OF  WKSrroRT 

thirteen.  The  inotlior  of  this  f;imily  tlioJ  when  the 
youngest  child  was  four  voars  old,  and  John  Halstead 
married  again,  a  Mrs.  Lydia  Pardee,  who  had  a  family 
of  children  of  her  own  by  a  former  marriage.  She  had 
no  Halstead  cliildren. 

Caroline  Eliza  Halstead  married  Miles  McFarlaud 
Sawyer,  January  5,  1832.  They  had  seven  children, 
all  born  in  "Wcstport  : 

1.  Phebe  Maria,  1832-1893.  She  married  John 
Xekou  Barton  and  had  two  children. 

Helen  married  Henry  J.  Griftin  of  Yorktown  Heights, 
"Westchester  Co.,  and  has  one  child,  Anna  Caroline  Griftiii. 
born  Dec.  6,  1891.  Caroline  Halstead  married  Frank  Bar- 
ton Royce,  and  is  the  only  descendant  of  John  .Halstead 
left  in  the  Champlain  valley. 

2.  Piatt  Eogers  Halstead  Sawyer,  1831-1885.  He 
was  a  physician,  and  surgeon  of  the  96th  N.  Y.  in  the 
Civil  War.  He  was  twice  married,  first  to  Helen  Ba- 
ker, second  to  Frances  Waters.     His  children  : 

Frances  Edua.  married  Hervey  Fi.  Dorr  of  Chicago,  has 
one  little  girl,  Francos. 

Lea  Halstead  Sawyer,   Chicago. 

3.  Jo.soph  Willoughby,  died  at  seventeen  of  con- 
sumption. 

4.  Wa.shington  Irviug,  1830-1802.  Killed  at  Gaine.-^ 
Mills,  Va. 

5.  Conatit,  1S41-1898,  married  Jeannette  Wright  in 
IvSW,  after  her  death  in  1893  married  Mrs.  Mary  E. 
Fowler  t)f  Anbuin.  His  children  now  live  in  Auburiu 
He  was  i\  physician  in  the  State  Prison  there. 

Katberiuf  Kl-uI  Sau  ver. 


n I  STORY  OF  WESTPOUT  lO.i 

Tiiomas  Cotiaut  Sawyer,  married  Alice  M.  Grant,  has 
three  children,  Jcanuette,  Thomas  Conant,  Jr.,  andGraut. 

John  Halstead  Sawyer,  a  lawyer  in  Auburn,  married 
Lulu  E.  Walker,  has  oue  child,  Conant. 

G.  John  Halstead,  18^3-1882.  INIarried  Emma  C. 
Knox  of  Ijedford,  N.  Y.  Died  in  Doniphan,  Kansas, 
being  Major  of  the  city  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

7.     Caroline  Loraine,  1846-1847. 

xVlso  in  1800  came  Enos  Lovcland,  probably  by  way 
of  the  Schroon  and  the  Boquet  valleys  to  the  settlement 
at  Pleasant  Valley,  and  then  eastward  across  the  Black 
river  to  tlie  highlands  of  Morgan's  Patent.  He  lived 
at  the  place  now  called  "Hoisiugtou's,"  on  the  head- 
waters of  the  floisingtou  brook,  near  the  cemetery.  It 
lies  not  far  outside  the  northern  limit  of  the  Iron  Ore 
Tract,  a  lonely  place,  hemmed  in  by  mountains.  The 
soil  is  light,  and  the  elevation  between  five  and  six  hun- 
dred feet.  Here  lie  "sat  down,"  as  the  phrase  went 
then,  with  his  family  of  a  wife  and  live  little  children. 
They  afterward  had  seven  more  children,  making  in  all 
a  good  old-fashioned  family. 

Enos  Loveland  was  born  in  Marlboro,  formerly  a  part 
of  Glastonbury,  Connecticut,  March  12,  17()().  Four 
generations  of  Lovelauds,  had  lived  in  that  town  or 
near  it,  there  being  four  Thomas  Lovelands  in  the  direct 
line  of  succession.  After  the  Pievolutiou  Enos  Love- 
laud,  like  so  many  of  the  young  men  of  New  England, 
left  his  home  to  try  new  fortunes  farther  west.  He 
was  married  at  Speucertown,  N.  Y.,  Jan.  15,  1789,  to 
An)]a  Finney,  who  was  born  at  Warren,  Conn.,  Jan.  25, 


Ji>4 


in  STORY  OF  WE  ST  PORT 


1/G9.     They  lived   for   a  time   at  SauJ  Lake,  Eensse- 
Lier  county,  and  came  to  wluit  u-as  then  Elizubothtown 
Essex  eonnty,  in  ISOO.      Enos  Lovelund  soon  became 
prominent  m  church  and  state,  being  a  man  of  ^-ei-Lt 
in  tlie  management  of  the    Baptist  church,   and  was 
elpcted  Supervisor  of  the  toun  for  the  vears  1809.  1810 
and  ISU.     When  Elizabethtoun  nvus  divided  in  'l815 
undtlic  .eastern  part  made  into   a   new   touu   with   the 
name  of  Westport,  Enos  Loveland  was  the  llrst  super- 
visor, and  the  town   records   show  that  he  hekl  many 
other  ofhces.     Pie  died  in  1841,  and  his  wife  in  1865  ^^' 
In  the  town  records  of  1801,  in  the  accounts  of  the 
roads  laid  out  in  different  parts  of  the  township,   there 
IS  mention  of  a  ^'lake  road,"  which  may  have  run  alonr. 
the  shore  fi-ommntli  to  south,   and  of  another  which 

•The  children  of  Enos  Loveland  are  as  follows  •  ~' 

Sylvia  bo--n  .,*,.  carried  for  h.r  first  husband  M.rc.s  Holsin^^ton  and  haW 
or.c  ch.!d.  n.n,od  Ma^cu..  She  after.v.rd  became  .he  second  wife  of  Dr.  Diadoru 
Hoiconib,  an.!  had  by  him  four  children.  .  '^''°'^"=' 

A.a,  bom  .79,.  married  Marj^^jrct  Frasier.     Went  west. 

JT'7'   t™    ""'•    """"'    ^"^^"^•"-^^-     Hewasti.e   father   of  Ralph  A 
Loveland.  who  represented  the  county  of  Es.ex  in  the  Assembly   and   in  the  Stu. 

^^::^z::x:  '""^"^ """  -  "^""^-  ^^'— ^  -  ^^^-^ 

Amanda,  born  irg;.  marri.d  Warren  Harper. 

Lucetta  born  ,70;.  .a,  one  of  the  early  school  teachers.  She  was  twi.e 
married,  first  to  Leman  Bradley,  second  to  Eben  F'^erton 

Xarciss.   born  .Soo.  after  her  parents  can.e  to  thi^s  to.-n',  .,arried  Elijah  An^ier 

Aretas,  born  .S33,  n,arricd  Emeline  .Manning. 

Then  came  two  babie,.  one  born  in  .Sos  and  the  other  in  .ScS.  both  of  who-^ 
were  named  Datus.     The  nrst  Datns,  who  closed    h.    eyes  on  this  wearv  wor .d  at 

Harr    t    ' '"^'^ '^^-^^^  '".  ^   "^  '"^^^'^'P-    T'-  -cond  Datus  died  at  the  a,e  of  five 
Harriet,  born  ,So>.  married  James  Stringham 


'      ]I  I  STOUT  OF  WKSTPOirr  V.h~> 

nvn  "through  Ananias  Iiogers'  clearing."  This  was 
juobably  a  road  connecting  Pleasant  Yalloy  with  North- 
west Bay,  and  it  shows  us  how  the  settlement  at  the 
bay  was  commonly  sjjokeii  of  at  that  time,  in  popular 
disregard  of  the  carefully  surveyed  streets  of  the  Ana- 
nias map. 

But  nevei'theless,  men  of  energy  and  foresight  saw 
possibilities  iu  the  situation  of  the  little  clearing. 
Early  iu  1S02  came  a  man  wlio  v\-as  destined  to  do  much 
in  furthering  tiie  fortunes  of  the  place,  bringing  in  tlie 
S[)ii-it  of  commeice,  with  its  expression  in  the  country 
store,  and  building  mills  and  wharves  as  time  went  on. 
This  man  was  Charles  Hatch.  Forty  years  after  his 
coming  to  Westport  he  wrote,  at  the  request  of  Dr. 
Sewall  S.  Cutting,  then  editor  of  the  ^Ve/r  Y<>rl-  Ht.njrilcr, 
a  letter  descriptive  of  the  place  as  he  first  saw  it,  which 
lias  fortunately  been  preserved.     lie  begins  : 

"Dear  sir  : — I  now,  agreeable  to  promise,  commence  a 
sketch  of  the  early  settlement  of  this  country,  but  more 
particularly  of  the  town  of  Westport.  In  the  spring  of 
1790  1  moved  to  the  settlement  of  Brooktield,  whicii 
cotnmenced  in  the  spiring  of  17S9,  which  place  was  then 
in  the  town  of  Willsborongh,  but  now  iu  the  town  of  Es- 
sex, At  that  timeall  the  country  west  of  me  for  100  miles 
was  an  entire  wilderness.  I  renjaiued  iu  Brookfield 
until  1S02.  During  that  time  a  settlement  commenced 
in  Pleasant  Valley,  now  Elizaljethtuu  n,  also  in  the  sev- 
«.'ral  towns  of  Chestertreld  by  Isaac  Wright,  iu  Jay  by 
Nathaniel  Malery,  in  Iveene  by  Benjamin  Payne,  ia 
Se-hroon  by  a  Judg>'  Pond.     All  conimeuced   their  im- 


inn  iiiHTOUY  OP  WK.sjToirr 

provceuts  „ud  progressed  rapidly.  Ou,-  ro.<ls  wcr, 
.11  to  make  anew  I  helped  ,.„k  out  the  first  road  that 
ed  fro.,  Lro.U,eld  to  (I,e  lake,  a  distance  of  six  .ailes. 
I  drove  the  „rst  loaded  .ago,,  f,.om  B.-ookfieU  to 
Pleasa„t  A  alley,  a  distance  of  eight  ,nile, 

"I.  the  fall  of  ISOl  1  c„uel„ded  to  move  to  AVestport 
..ghtu,,lesfro,nmythe„  residence,  vet  fhe,.e  v.-al  „o 
■■oad.  I  the,.  ha,„essed  „-,y  horses  io  a  .ago.,  „-i.h 
tour  n,e„  w„h  ,ae,  ami  i„  „v„  Oays'   time,   wiU,   perse- 

Uuated  tea  „„,es  west  of  the  City  of  Vergennes,  iu 
Vermont,  a„d  be.ng  ou  the  west  side  of  Lake  Ch^m- 
plain. 

fi  ll,b„    toa„yo„e,vhok„owsl,is  history  it  is  ph,i„ 

ha    he  foresaw  „o  fut„re  for  hi.aselt  aad    bis  aptitude 

orbns,ness,„aplaee  like    Brookfield,   which  has  ,.- 

"«>-    «"lo  tlos  .lay  simply  a  slretel,  of  far,ui„g  coam 

try,  withont  eve.,  a  post-office  of  its  owu 

"Westport    .  that  t„„e  was  .aostly  a  dense  fo,.est, 
th  a  fe„-soh.a,y  settlements,    without    a    road  near 

.helake.ol..,..,h„adioi,,i.,gtou.n,,orth,  a,,d.,one 
fo  Cow,,  1  o,„t.  the  then  adjoining  to,vn  sonth.  AVe  of 
eou,vse,  had  no  means  of  co„„„„„icati„g  with  clnr 
ne,g-l,W,,,g  ,o„-ns  h„t  l,v  wa.e,-,   and   that  „„.„„,,,.,.■  .) 

™o:c:dtp,■,t■l^.g:r;am,J;l;nHa,s;e;l^; 
.n.e  t.o  and  o,,ed,alfn,i,es  south,  at  Barber's  roiat;; 
He.eK,al,  ].,rl„.,.,  which  place  bears  his  ua,ae.     .S.iil 

""'"  "'"^  "'-^  "  ^-■■■"  "-..pn.ve.uent  four   n.il.s  soa.h 


IILSTORY  OF  WESTJ'O/rr  1U7 

of  tlif  jnesout  AVcstport  villa^-e,  cominenccid  by  a  ruau 
1)V  the  Dame  of  riaiuiout,  wliicli  Avas  tiio  only  iitiprove- 
hunt  coinmenced  In -foie  the  Eevolntion  in  the  present 
West  port.  At  the  last  ineiitiouecl  phice  Eainieiit  erect- 
ed a  small  mill,  but  it  was  all  tlemolislied  when  I  moved 
into  this  place,  except  a  shattered  old  house  which 
was  occupied  by  Jjcujamjn  Andrews. 

"Tlie  village  of  Westport  is  situated  aljoufc  nine  miles 
north  of  Crown  Point,  on  a  pleasant  Bay,  and  .  .  . 
had  .  .  .  tijreo  log  houses,  a  saw  mill,  and  a  few 
scateriug  log  bouses  in  the  backwoods." 

Watson,  who  probably  received  his  information  from 
the  old  Squire  himself,  says  that  he  found  here  one 
frame  house,  three  log  houses,  a  saw  imW  and  one  barn, 
The  frame  house,  and  probably  the  barn,  were  John 
Halstead's,  and  the  saw  mill  was  built  by  Ananias  Kog- 
ers. 

'"The  little  partial  improvementon  the  village  ground 
was  eovert'd  with  di'y  Hemlock  Trees,  but  the  first  set- 
tlers Vv'as  a  set  of  Hardy,  Iiidusti-ious  men,  aiid  the 
wilderness  soon  became  fruitful  fields,  and  the  impi'ove- 
meuts  have  progresst^d  gradually.  The  great  Iron  Ore 
r>ed,  formerly  called  the  Crown  Point  Ore  Led,  is  sit- 
imted  in  the  south  part  of  ^Yt■stport,  and  is  one  of  the 
iuost  exteusix'e  mines  of  Imn  in  this  Northern  Iron  re- 
gion. It  was  discovered  soon  after  the  Pievolution,  and 
f<dl  into  the  liauds  of  Piatt  Eogers,  who  made  some  im- 
l>roverneuts  in  raising.  He  emjdoyed  a  number  of 
miners.  Among  the  miners  was  a  respectable  English- 
man b\-  the  r.au:e  of  ^^'alcou,  and  r>ome  of  his   descend- 


jr>S  in  STORY  OF  Wi:  ST  FORT 

ants  still  remain  in  the  same  neigliborlioorl,  and  some 
oecupyiug  the  same  ground,  and  enjoy  a  respectable 
place  iii  sooietj." 

He  is  mistaken  in  saying  that  the  ore  bed  ^vas  "dis- 
covered soon  after  the  Eevolution,"  as  its  existence  was 
'.vell-kn£)wu  to  Philip  Skene,  and  we  have  good  reason 
to  believe  that  this  is  why  ho  desired  the  grant  of  the 
land  from  the  king.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the 
Vi'alton  family  of  whom  Jndgo  Hatch  speaks  still  oc- 
cupy the  same  place,  on  the  road  between  "NVestport 
and  Port  Henry. 

"In  consequence  of  the  Iron  mine  above  named,  and 
many  others  in  tlie  neigliboring  towns,  there  are  many 
forges  erected  in  almost  every  town  in  the  count v,  and 
many  of  them  bring  their  Iron  into  Westport  for  mark- 
et. The  early  settlers  suffered  many  privations,  it  be- 
ing a  time  when  all  kinds  of  merchandise  was  very 
Dear,  and  no  manufacturing  near  but  what  every  Fam- 
ily did  for  themselves;  no  mills  near.  None  knows 
tiie  privations  but  those  that  tryed  it,  but  the  scene  is 
much  changed.  We  now  fitjd  ourselves  situated  in  a 
pleasant  Tillage  of  about  one  thousand  inhabitants, 
]:)leutifully  supi'lied  with  the  necessaries  of  life,  and 
many  luxuries,  having  now  a  variety  of  factor\'s.  among 
others  a  furnace  which  makes  froni  six  to  nine  tons  of 
Ii-on  per  day,  and  anothei-  furr.ace  at  Port  Henrv.  Of 
the  several  Iron  mines  in  Essex  Co.  the  following  is  a 
part;  1st,  in  Westport.  2nd,  in  Moriah.  3rd,  in  Crown 
Point.  Itli,  in  Elizabethtov»n,  besides  many  naoi'e, 
id  most  wilhou.t  uuniber." 


nJSTOltY  OF  WE  ST  r  OUT  I'ju 

The  oW  Judge  always  writes  the  word  "irou"  willi  a 
oai)ital,  and  well  he  nnglit,  for  it  had  a  great  part  in 
the  building  up  of  his  fortunes.  In  old  mortgages  of 
the  time  we  often  find  it  provided  that  the  interest  shall 
bo  paid  "in  good,  mercliantable,  bar  iron,"  to  be  deliv- 
ered at  the  store  of  Cliarles  Hatch  on  such  a  day.  Of 
course  barter  was  the  rule  of  trade  in  those  days,  as 
money  was  far  too  scarce  to  supply  the  demand  for  a 
medium  of  exchange,  and  no  doubt  a  store-keeper  with 
a  good  eye  for  the  value  of  different  kinds  of  produce, 
and  a  shrewd  knowledge  of  his  market,  gathered  wealth 
all  the  sooner  for  tliat.''- 

In  the  same  season  that  the  possessions  of  Charles 
Hatch  were  conveyed  with  so  much  labor  through  the 
woods  from  Brookfield  to  Northwest  ]Jay,  another  partv 
made  its  way  in  the  0[iposite  direction  to  the  falls  on 
the  Eoqnet.  They  crossed  the  lake,  landed  in  the  bay, 
and  cut  a  road  "four  miles  through  the  pine  woods." 
They  had  come  a  long  journey,  from  a  town  in  the  eas- 
tern part    of   Massachusetts.     TJiis   was  the  party  of 

•Char!c«  Hatch  was  born  in  176S  in  Dutchess  county,  the  son  of  Timothy  Hatch 
and  Eunice  Beard^Iey  his  wife,  who  had  moved  there  from  ConnecUcut.  He  came 
toBtookfielda  young  man  of  twenty-two,  with  a  wife  whose  maiden  name  was 
Amy  Low,  and  one  child,  Ehzabeth  or  Betsey,  who  afterward  married  Samuel  H. 
F.irnswor:h.  Soon  ;ifter  his  arrival  his  son  Charles  Beardsley  Ha'ch  was  born, 
and  afterward  succeeded  to  his  fathtjr's  business  in  Westport.  marryincr  Mar- 
t,'ar«tta  Ann  W.nans.  daughter  of  James  I.  Wirans  by  his  first  wifa.  1  he  c'hildren 
of  Charles  B.  Hatch  were  Percival,  Winans,  Mary  Elizabeth,  who  married  Amos 
Prescott,  and  Sarah,  who  married  Edwin  Prescott.  In  1S20  Judge  Charles  Hatch 
married  his  second  wife,  LyJia  I>  Clark,  sister  of  David  Clark  and  half  sister  of 
A.ircn  B.  .Mack,  and  h^d  twochildren.  Eunice,  afterward  Mrs.  Stoutenhurgh.  and 
EJwin.  Late  in  life  Judjre  Hatch  married  a  third  time,  Maria,  dausjhler  of  Jacob 
and  Sarah  Ferris,  and  she  outlued  him  by  twelve  ye^rs.  The  old  <quire  died  in 
^''j'^.i'SC^  ei|;hty-ei»;hr. 


■200  11  IS  TO  in'  OF  wEsri'Oirr 

Jesse  Bramau.  His  people  were  early  settlers  ia 
Xortoi),  Mass.,  arul  liaJ  cluiip;  to  tlio  soil  for  four 
generations,  so  that  it  must  have  seeaied  a 
strange  and  daring  thing  to  cut  loose  from  every  tie 
and  face  the  long,  rough  journey  into  the  depths  of  thc- 
wilderness  of  northera  ]Se\v  York.  Jesse  Braman's 
wife  was  Abiatha  Felt,  and  her  brother,  Aaron  Felt, 
also  came  from  Temple,  N.  H.,  and  settled  at  the  falls, 
but  it  is  not  quite  clear  whether  the  two  young  couples 
came  together,  or  whether  Aaron  Felt  came  somewhat 
later.  Let  us  ho])e  that  they  had  the  comfort  of  trav- 
eling together,  that  the  discomforts  and  hardships  of 
the  way  might  be  the  sooner  forgotten.  AVith  v.hat 
delight  they  must  have  stood  at  last  upon  the  river 
bank  and  looked  upon  the  beautiful  foaming  fall  in  the 
bend  of  the  river,  overarched  by  the  giant  trees  of  the 
prin^eval  forest,  conscious  of  their  own  ability  to  make 
use  of  all  tliat  beauty  and  jiower.  The  river  v;as  twice 
as  full  as  vvx-  ever  see  it  now,  except  in  time  of  flood, 
and  thoe  was  no  bridge,  no  mill,  no  house,  not  even  a 
tree  cut  o!i  the  bank.  ITow  much  lovelier  it  must  have 
been  tiion,  dashing  downward  over  the  rocks  that  auulc 
it  musical,  through  the  ancient  forest  to  the  lake  ! 

But  it  i.-,  not  likely  that  Braraau  and  Felt  stopped  t(» 
admire  the  scenery  much  until  they  had  raised  a  roof 
over  the  heads  of  their  famihes.  The  first  house, — a 
log  cabin,  of  course,— was  built  on  the  bank,  southwest 
of -the  fall.  A  eh  aring  was  made,  and  Aaron  Felt  built 
ft  grist  mill,— how  soon  I  do  not  know.  His  wife's 
ma.i<h-i:  n.Liir.-  was  Kaehcl  Chase,  and  it  is  told  tl.iat  sh.o 


iiisroin'  OF  wKSTi'oirr  ■201 

could  run  the  luill  ;is  well  as  lier  liusbautl,  niid  that 
wlien  it  was  neccssavy  to  oairy  tli^  giaiu  to  the  mill, 
she  sliouklercd  the  baji;  and  w  alkod  across  the  oue  log 
that  brid<;;ed  tl.e  space  between  the  river's  bank  and 
t]ic  mill,  as  fearlessly  and  securely  as  he.  Such  wei'e  thn 
pioneer  womei\.  and  snob  they  had  need  to  Ite.  About 
lSlH)the  Felts  ti'.ovod  to  Ph.asaiU  Valley,  but  th^  Bra- 
mans  stayed  in  the  place  where  they  first  settled.  Jesse 
Jb-aman's  wife  Abiatha  had  .>i\  children,  and  then  died. 
Then  lie  married  JMarcia  Kose,  and  she  had  seven 
chiklren.  In  those  days  a  family  of  thirteen  children 
was  considered  only  a  comfortabhj  houseful,  even 
though  the  houses  were  so  much  smaller  than  they  are 
now."^-' 

Another  early  settler  was  Samuel  Webster  Felt,  who 
came,  like  Aaron  Felt,  from  Temple,  N.  H.  He  married 
Lydia  Wheelt-r,  in  l^Ud,  and  thry  nsade  tin;  long  jour- 
ney to  the  F;ills,  but  in  a  few  ujonths'  time  the  young 
wife  died,  and  hevs  is  said  to  have  been  the  tlrst  fune- 
ral in  the  townsliip.  She  was  br.ried  "near  the  big 
elm,"  I  am  told,  on  the  bank  of  the  liver,  a  little  below 
the  present  ceniettn'y.  This  was  the  first  burying- 
Ln-onnd,  but  all  traces  of  it  are  now  removed. 


♦Some  of  these  thirteen  children  died,  some  prew  up  to  go  west,  and  six  married 
a.-'.J  settled  in  this  vicinity.  Daniel  V\'.  Braman  was  one  of  the  principal  business 
men  of  Wadhams  Mills  for  many  years,  and  was  supervisor  for  two  terras.  Horace 
was  also  in  business  there,  and  his  son  Jesse  is  now  a  practicing-  physician  at  the 
sair.e  place.  Jason  married  Laura  Hubble  and  had  nine  children,  Ejjbert,  Mary> 
Van  Xess,  George,  Esteila,  Lucy,  Henry,  Jaii.es  and  Lynn.  0£  the  daughters, 
Asenath  married  Piatt  Sheldon,  Martha  married  Henry  Bfownson  and  Helen  mar- 
rifd  Thom.is  Kelt.  There  are  now  over  twenty  descendrmts  of  the  pioneer  living 
in  town,  in  the  families  of  Henry  and  James  ikaman,  Henry  SlicUlv>r.,  .-\l!>crt  Car- 
penter and  Guy  Frisbie. 


202  HisTOuv  nr  wKsrroirr 

111  1808  or  1810  Jolm  AN'hitney  came  v,  ith  his  fauuly 
from  Springfield,  Yt.,  and  followed  tlie  uov/ly  cut  road 
through  the  pine  woods  from  the  Bay  to  the  Falls, 
choosing  his  farm  rdjont  a  mile  above  the  falls,  on  the 
east  side  of  tlie  river.  When  he  had  ju'ospered  snfii- 
ciently  to  build  himself  a  new  frame  house,  and  the 
neighbors  were  called  in  to  help  raise  the  frame,  his 
principles  forbade  his  followin;:^  the  gejieral  custom  of 
giving  the  men  liquor.  Thence  it  was  kijown  as  the 
first  house  in  all  this  region  which  was  "raised  with- 
out rum."  I'liis  house  stood  until  Deceml.)er  of  1901, 
when  it  was  unfortunately  destroyed  by  fire.  Tlie 
laud  has  never  been  out  of  the  family  since  it  was 
first  taken  up  by  Jolm  "Whitney,  who  was  a  de- 
scendant of  that  John  Whitney  who  was  born  in  Eng- 
land in  1589  and  came  to  "Watertown,  Mass.,  in 
1()35.  This  English  John  Whitney  was  a  descend- 
ant of  Sir  Evobert  Wiiitney,  and  through  him  the  family 
claim  Idnship  with  English  nobility,  and  even  with 
royalty.  Many  of  the  famih  became  distinguished  in 
the  nesv  world.  The  father  of  our  pioneer  was  Eemuel 
Wiiitney  of  Sponeer,  ]\Iass.,  of  whom  it  was  said  that 
he  and  all  his  brothers  and  brothers-in-law  were  in  the 
Kevolutmnary  army.  His  wife  was  Elizabeth  Safibrd, 
born  in  Rowley,  Mass.,  daughter  of  JJauiel  Sati'ord,  who 
fought  in  tlie  Revolution,  and  afterward  became  one  of 
the  early  settlors  of  the  town  of  Essex.* 


•Johft  Whitney's  seven  children  all  sctt'pd  m  lliis  new  land  which  he  had  diosen. 
His  oldest  daufjhter,  Abigail,  murried  OJiver  H.  B.arrett,  and  had  four  sons.  JoKn 
Whitney Barp.tt  died  in  Chiciso  in  1..00.  Beniinun  Albert  Birrelt  wis  a  vol-jn- 
leer  in  the  Civil  War,  .md  is  now  a  drug^g'Sl    in   North  Topeka,    Kansas,     Oliver 


HISTORY  OF  Wi:ST/Oirr  -jo:: 

The  Hiircly  family  also  came  to  the  banks  of 
the  lloqnet  very  early.  There  were  three  brothers, 
Fr;inois,  Joseph  auil  Beujamiu,  who  came  first  and  se- 
lected the  home,  then  returned  and  brought  tlieir  mother 
and  sister  Hannali,  all  the  party  travehng  on  horse 
back.  This  was  about  1811.  Tliey  settled  a  mile  or 
so  below  the  Falls,  at  the  most  southern  bend  in  the 
river,  Frances  building-  on  the  west  sliore  and  Benjanjin 
on  the  east.  This  land  has  never  been  out  of  the  family 
since  it  was  jfirst  taken  up  by  the  three  brothers. 

liL-turninjj;  to  the  village  at  Northwest  Bay  and  re- 
tracing a  few  years  in  time,  we  find  the  village  rapidlv 
increasing,  as  well  as  the  outlying  population.  The 
fact  that  a  man  lived  in  the  village  was  no  proof  tliat  he 
was  not  a  fanner.  On  the  contrary,  every  one  who 
owned  anything  at  all  owned  land  to  clear  and  cultivate, 
and  as  soon  as  the  clearings  were  made  fit  for  pastur- 
age, and  the  wolves  were  subdued  enough  to  make  it 
possible  to  keep  cattle,  the   village   streets  were  lanes 


r):in.i  R;»rrLLt,  a  graduate  o£  the  University  of  Vermont,  practiced  law  in  Wash- 
intjtun,  D.  C..  from  1S67  until  hir.  death  in  ijoi.  Henrv  S.:fford  Barrett  ib  a  farmer 
inThomson,  Ul. 

Lemuel  Whitney  died  in  iS;(S,  lca\  ir^  no  children. 

Thankful  married  Thomas  liadley  and  spent  her  life  near  her  early  home. 

Elizabeth  married  Benjamin  S.  Fairchild,  of  Wiilsboro,  and  died  recently,  the 
last  pensioner  of  the  war  of  i'm2  in  thii  section. 

Caroline  married  Laertins  Tuttle  of  Essex. 

John  Rnssell  Whitney  u  iU  always  be  known  in  the  annals  of  Wadhams  as  "Dea- 
con Whitney, "holding-  that  office  in  the  Contjregational  church  from  his  election  in 
iS/j^,  upon  the  death  of  Deacon  Sturtevant,  to  his  own  death  in  iSSo.  Of  his  chil- 
dren, two  daughters  married  clergymen,  one  daughter  prepared  herself  for  teach- 
ing music,  two  )K>ns  have  been  in  business,  one  was  a  missionary  in  Micronesia  for 
ten  years,  and  a  son  and  a  daughter  ^tlll  reside  on  the  home  farm. 

Joel  French  Whitney  was  a  fan-.itr  and  business  niin.  One  son  resides  at  Wad- 
hjinsand  two  arc  1:1  the  wes'. 


204  II J  STORY  OF  WESTl'ORT 

tlirougb  wliicli  tlie  cows  came  home  at  night.  There 
Imd  been  a  saw  mill  on  the  brook  as  early  as  the  ear- 
liest houses,  aijcl  soon  after  there  was  a  grist  mill. 
There  is  au  okl  "Agreeuient"  between  the  miller  and 
the  mill  owners  which  has  been  preserved,  and  though 
the  date  has  been  torn  off,  it  seems  to  have  been  made 
out  before  1S07.  The  agreement  is  between  Ananias 
and  Piatt  Ilogers  and  Asa  Durfee,  and  it  sets  forth 
that  the  owners  "have  let  unto  him  the  Grist  Mill  at 
Northwest  Bay  on  Shares,  each  to  have  half  the  toll. 
And  the  Mill  and  Dam  to  be  kept  in  repair  by  the  said 
Asa,  ordinary  repairs  of  less  than  one  dollar,  at  his 
own  proper  expense;  and  all  extraordinary  repairs  of 
more  than  one  dollar,  (not  occasioned  by  improper 
negligence  of  the  said  Asa,)  are  to  be  made  by  the  said 
Ananias  ami  Piatt  at  their  proper  charge  and  expense, 
for  the  Terra  of  one  year  next  ensuing  the  date  hereof. 
On  condition  that  the  said  Asa  shall  faithfully  keep  the 
said  Mill  and  Dam  in  gr>od  repair  as  aforesaid,  and  well« 
and  truly  perfi^rm  all  the  duties  of  a  skillful,  trusty  and 
obliging  Miller."  The  niiller  was  to  have  his  house 
rent  besides  his  half  of  the  toll,  and  '"the  pasture  lot 
east  of  the  road  leading  from  the  saw  mill  southward, 
the  ensuing  season,  for  three  dollars  and  thirty-seven 
and  H  half  cents  f<>r  the  season  ;  and  also  the  new 
cleared  gvoand  on  each  side  of  the  Mill  brook  to  plant 
with  Indian  cm-n"  on  shares.  "And  also,  one-half  of 
the  Grass  lot  wherecni  has  been  wheat  the  last  season, 
sotith  of  the  Mill  brook,"  on  shares. 

Tims  we   learn    that    thev   called   the   stream    "Mill, 


Ill  STORY  OF  WSKTJ'oirr  Jdo 

Ih-ook,"  and  tljat  Asa  Durfec  was  on..' of  the  first,  if  uot 
the  first  miller.  Au  ohi  tiMubstone  in  the  cemetery 
reads  "Eheuezer  Durfie,  a  soldier  of  the  llevolutioti. 
Died  1847,  aged  86."  Perhaps  Asa  Durfee  was  his  son. 
One  of  the  first  settlers  at  Northwest  Bay  was  Ed- 
ward  Cole,  who  came  from  Warren,  Rhode  Island, 
probably  crossing  the  lake  at  Barber's  Foint,  and  bouj^ht 
land  upon  lot. No.  14  of  Skene's  Patent,  building  his 
house  at  the  top  of  the  hill  in  the  south  ])art  of  the  vil- 
lage,  on  the  site  so  long  occupied  by  ]\lr.  Israel  Patti- 
son.  His  wife's  name  was  Sarah,  and  they  brought 
with  them  seven  children,  ail  reared  in  the  Baptist 
faith,  ai'd  accustomed  tf-  consider  their  home  the  natu- 
ral abiding  place  of  all  Baptist  preachers  who  canje 
into  the  neighborhood.""  These  preachers,  as  well  as 
those  of  other  denoruiuatious  at  times,  brought  into  the 
little  lake  shore  .>>ettlemeut  an  intiuonce  distinctly  felt, 
and  one  which  had  much  to  do  iu  shajnng  the  history 
of  the  town. 


♦Children  of  Edward  Cole: 

I,  Samuel  married  Rebecca  Holcomb,  daughter  of  Diadorus,  and  was  the  fath- 
er of  S,  Wheaton  Cole  of  Cedar  Bapids,  Iowa,  and  of  Emeline,  who  married 
Willimn  L.  Wadhanis^  son  of  Gijncral  Wadhams. 

1.  Caleb  married  Eunice  Haves,  and  was  the  father  of  Harry,  Albert,  (marjied 
Juha  Hickok.)  Kobv  (married  Mr.  Douglas),  Mary  (rearried  James  A.  Allen),  and 
Roxy  (married  Diadorus  Holcomb,  Jr.)  To  Caleb  descended  the  old  place,  built 
by  Edw.'i.rd  Cole. 

3.  Paul  died  unmarried. 

4.  Tillinghast  married  Caty  Penny,  and  all  their  descendants  now  living  in 
Westport  are  children  and  grandchildren  of  tivo  daughters.  Maria  married  Hez-* 
•  kiah  Barber,  (son  of  the  Hrst  settler.)  and  their  son  Major  still  lives  on  the  old 
Barber  place  at  the  Point.  Another  daughter  of  Tillinghast  Cole,  Pamelia,  mar- 
ried Xoc!  Merrill,  and  their  son  Henry,  with  his  family,  still  live  on  the  place 
where  Tiilinghast  Cole  first  built  his  house,  on  the  edge  of  "the  Cedars." 

One  of  Edward  Cole's  dauehters  married  Jeduthun  B.arnes,  and  another  married 
a  Culver, 


2(f6  HISTORY  OF  WJ:STFOJ!T 

In  1807  the  first  church  was  organized,  of  the  Baptist 
order,  like  the  tirst  chu.  ch  at  Pleasant  Valley,  organ- 
ized ten  years  before.  Many  of  the  early  settlers  came 
I'rom  the  older  colonies  with  certificates  of  church  raeni- 
'  bership  carefully  packed  away  among  their  household 
treasures — a  "church  letter,"  as  it  is  called.  One  of 
the  vows  taken  by  a  person  joining  a  Baptist  church  is 
the  promise  that  if  ho  or  she  shall  remove  from  the 
place,  this  letter  shall  be  presented  as  soon  as  possible 
to  some  other  church  "of  the  same  faith  and  order." 
Not  finding  such  a  church  already  constituted,  your 
true  Baptist  sets  to  work  to  make  one,  and  such  was 
the  task  before  a  little  botly  of  Baptists  who  had  come 
into  the  town.  The  civilizing  influence  of  an  organiza- 
tion pledged  to  religious  observance  and  good  behavior 
is  especially  needed  in  a  new  community,  and  the  Con- 
gregational form  of  self-forming  and  self-ruling  churches 
peculiarly  well  adapted  to  such  conditions  as  are  found 
on  a  new  frontier.  One  article  of  Baptist  belief  is  that 
which  enjoins  the  faithful  keeping  of  church  records, 
and  old  "church  hooks"  are  invaluable  in  local  history. 
The  records  of  this  "Northwest  Bay  Church"  as  it  was 
called,  were  well  kept  from  the  very  beginning,  and  are 
exceedingly  interesting.  The  first  entry  is  dated  March 
17,  1807,  and  begins:  "A  Meeting  a[){)ointed  by  a  nuni- 
.ber  of  Baptist  brethren  on  Morgan's  Patent  in  Eliza- 
bethtown."  "On  Morgan's  Patent"  is  not  as  definite 
as  we  could,  wish,  as  it  only  indicates  a  region  which  is 
bounded,  roughly  speaking,  within  the  triange  formeil 
bv  the  Black  river,  the  J.edge  Hill   road  to   MeigsvilU-, 


HISTORY  OF  WKsrrnirr  207 

;intl  the  turnpike.  This  stretcli  of  farmiug  couutry 
wus  settled  as  oarly  as  auy  in  the  township,  and  no 
iloubt  here  was  the  greater  weight  of  Baptist  sentiment. 
We  would  like  t(j  have  been  told  in  whose  house  they 
met,  but  it  is  no  improbable  guess  that  it  wjis  on  the 
Hoisinglon  place,  where  three  roads  couk;  together, 
near  the  headwaters  of  the  Hoisiugtou  brot)k. 

Here  the  church  was  foraied  with  six  meml>ers — four 
uiL'U  and  two  women.  Elisha  Collins  seems  to  have 
bt-en  the  leader  and  the  one  who  kept  the  record. 
There  were  also  llupy,  or  lUipee  Bachellor,  William 
Denton  and  James  Hoysington.  (This  name,  some- 
times written  Hysouton,  is,  ot  course,  the  same  that  we 
now  spell  Hoisington.)  Then  there  were  Sarah  Ellis 
and  Tripiiena  Bachellor,  the  latter  probabh'  the  wife 
of  Rupee  Bachellor.  At  the  next  meeting  two  more 
women  joined — Anna  Loveland,  the  wife  of  Enos  Love- 
land,  who  joined  soon  after,  and  Phebe  Fish.  At 
another  meeting  Peter  X.  Fisli,  "Sister"  Fish  and  xVvis 
Hvsonton  jt>ined.  In  September  the  name  of  Joel  Fin- 
ney is  added,  and  a  meeting  is  appointed  at  his  house 
"at  Northwest  B.i}"."  In  November  was  held  the 
"council  of  sister  churches"  which  is  always  necessary 
for  the  recognition  of  a  newly  f()rmed  Baptist  churcli. 
The  council  was  formed  of  delegates  from  four  churches 
-dready  established,  those  of  Pleasant  Valley  and  Jav 
on  this  side  the  lake,  and  of  Panton  and  Bridport  in 
Vermont.  This  Council,  ])robid.ly  the  largest  public 
gathering  up"to  that  time,  which  had  yet  been  held  in 
tbe  little  settlement,  "met  accoi-ding  to   ajujointment  at 


iVAV  If/STOin'  OF  WCSTPORT 

the  chvelliiJ^  liouse  of  Mr.  Johu  Halstead's  at  N.  W. 
Bay."  The  "Mr."  proves  that  John  Halstead  was  not 
entitled  to  the  prefix  "Brother,"  ^^'iven  to  all  male 
church  members,  and  the  reason  for  the  use  of  his 
house  is  simply  that  it  contaiuod  the  largest  room  in 
the  village — the  bar  room,  in  the  northwest  corner. 
Not  the  slightest  incongruity  was  felt  between  the  place 
and  the  solemn  proceedings  of  the  Council,  nor  was 
this  a  sign  of  the  barbarism  of  the  frontier.  At  that 
day,  not  one  man  in  a  hundred  had  any  conscientious 
scruples  on  the  subject  of  moderate  drinking,  and  it 
was  more  than  twenty  years  after  this  time  that  the 
first  "temperance  agitation"  was  begun.  Drinking  had  j 
not  yet  become  a  question  of  conscience.  Tlie  man 
who  drank  too  much  was  frowned  upon  by  society  and 
disciplined  by  the  church,  but  the  man  who  drank  only 
a  little  was  commended  as  the  community  ideal. 

This  bar  r<;om  was  used  occasionally  afterward  for 
other  Councils  and  unusually  large  gatherings,  but  the 
regular  meetings  of  the  church  were  held  at  the  houses 
of' the  diiroreiit  members.  The  one  most  frequently 
used  in  tliis  way  was  Edward  Cule.  (From  this  fact 
arose  tlie  impres^^ion  among  some  of  the  older  mem- 
bers of  the  church,  with  whonj  I  have  talked,  that  the 
church  was  organized  in  his  house,  l>ut  the  facts  con- 
tained in  the  ohl  records  are  exactly  as  1  have  given 
them.) 

In  five  yeaj's'  tinie  the  church  had  increased  to  more 
than  thirty  members.  There  wus  no  regular  pastor. 
Occasionally  one  of  the  wilderness  preachers,  like Henjy 


iiiSTOJir  OF  WESTj'onr 


•2t)U 


rha,nl„n.hua  ,n-  Solo.non  B.owu,  who  went  about  from 
<-IJUrel,  f.>  cimrcl,  i„  „orthen,  Vormout  ;uh1  Xew  Yoil- 
came  to  pr.ach  a  ser,„o„,  or  to  observe  the  orjiuaucel 
of  communion  or  of  baptism,  stajed  a  few  weeks  and 
"ent  on  h„  way  again.  The  u.ost  of  the  time  the 
...eelings  were  n.ore  lil<e  the  n.odern  "prayer  meeting  " 
^v.th  an  eynal  oi,portruuty  given  each  member  for  e"x- 
I'ress.on  Tl,is  .system  brought  out  the  natural  leaders 
Hu.ongthem,  whose  gifts  of  prayer  and  exhortation 
srew  wtth  the  using.  Elisha  Collins  was  evidently  per- 
.mt.ed  to  "improve  the  time"  with  more  authority  than 
™.V  o  her,  until  Deacon  Abner  Holcomb  came,  wheu 
the  latter  seems  to  have  taken  the  first  place 

The  clerics  of  the  church  were  Elisha  Collins,  and 
heu  Pe  er  >.  F.sh.  Levi  Cole,  .Joel  F,nuey  and  Tilling. 
1  ast  Cole.  s,>n  ol  Edward  Cole.  Those  who  acted  as 
deacons  were  Rupee  Dacheller.  Uriah  Palmer,  Horace 
Holcon,h  and  1,  hnghast  Cole.  Xames  of  members 
addedl,eorel8  2w-ereAshbeI  Culver,  Squire  Ferris 
Na  haurel  Htukly  Tunis  Van  VUet.-Hazelton,  Piatt 
Halstoad,   bamuel    Bacheller,    Steven    Collins,    Titus 

Co'^  r"\  ^'"\™""'"  -"-  '^J[i°erva  and  Loviua 
Cohns,heheeea  linuey,  Sarah  and  Charlotte  Cole, 
M«y  and  Sahy  Culver.  Diadama  Ferris.  Electa  Van 
M.e  .  lolly  HauHuon.l.  Huldah  Barber,  ilindwell  Hol- 
comb, Elizabeth  B.arue.s,  Mehital,le  Havens 

1.  the  san.e  year,  on  Septeud.er  4,  1S07.  a  most  uota- 
We  event  „,  ,h.  h.story  of  civilization  occurred  upon  the 
Hudson  r.v.r.  It  was  the  first  entirely  successful  nav- 
igatR.u  l,y  steam  ja.wer  ever  accom,,lished.     The  Ch,- 


210  HJsroRY  OF  wKsrronr 

ino)tt,  built  by  Ivoboit  Fulton,  with  tlie  as;<i.stauce  and 
eucouragemoiit  of  Chancellor  liivinj^ston  ancl  of  many 
of  the  business  men  liviuf^  iu  towns  alonj^  the  Hudson, 
made  the  trip  from  New  York  to  Albany  iu  thirty-two 
hours.  Que  of  the  meu  ou  board  the  C'lcnnont  that 
day,  and  cue  who  had  been  interested  iii  every  detail  of 
the  new  invention  from  the  first,  was  John  Winans  of 
Pougldceepsie.  He  belonged  to  one  of  the  old,  well-to- 
do  Quaker  families  of  that  region,  aud  his  sister,  Mrs. 
Hannah  Southwick,  was  a  well-known  Quaker  preacher. 
Another  sister,  Polly,  was  Mrs.  Darrell,  and  another 
married  a  lieyuolds.  His  brothers  were  Stephen,  who 
lived  in  Poughkeepsie,  and  James,  who  married  as  his 
second  wife  Ida,  daughter  of  Piatt  Rogers,  and  came  to 
live  at  Basin  Harbor.  John  Winans,  the  most  famous 
of  the  family,  by  reason  of  his  connection  with  the 
beginnings  of  steam  navigation,  married  a  Dutch  wo- 
man, Catriiia  Stuart,  and  seeing  great  possibilities  in 
the  appHcation  of  the  new  pov/er  to  the  means  of 
transportation  between  Sew  York  and  Canada,  moved 
to  Lake  Champlain.  Here  he  built  the  second  steam- 
boat in  the  world,  and  called  it  the  Vennoitt.  It  was 
built  in  Burlington,  by  John  Winans  and  J.  Lough,  and 
launched  at  the  foot  of  King  street  in  the  spring  of  1803. 
The  Vfnuoiit  was  larger  than  the  Cltrmonl,  being  120 
feet  long,  20  feet  wide,  aud  S  feet  deep,  witli  a  speed  of 
four  miles  an  hour.  The  captain  was  John  Winans 
himself,  aud  the  pilot  Hiram  Ferris  of  Panton, — a  de- 
scendant, l)y  the  way,  of  that  Ferris  who  entertained 
Benjamin  Franklin  aud    the   otlier   Ccnnmissiouers   oi> 


n  I  STORY  OF   WESTl'Oirr  211 

tlioir  way  to  Canada  in  the  spring  of  177(3.  The  Ver- 
t/iniit  began  luuniug  regnhir  trips  iu  ISOU,  carrying  pas- 
sengers and  freight  between  Whiteliall  and  St.  John's. 
In  tlie  war  of  1S12  she  carried  government  stores  and 
soldiers,  and  once  at  least  was  in  danger  of  .capture  by 
the  British.  She  ran  for  seven  years,  being  sunk  near 
I^le  Au  Noix  in  October  of  1815.  The  next  steamboat 
on  the  hike  was  the  F/io  >iir,  but  at  Yergennes  for  the 
Champh.iiu  Transportation  Company  in  1815,  and  the 
third  was  another  boat  built  by  John  Winans,  tiie 
('haiiii>laiii,  lauuclied  at  Yergennes  in  181 G.  The  Chinn- 
l>ktin,  was  smaller  and  swifter  than  the  l^erntoitf,  and 
was  burned  at  Whitehall  iu  1S17. 

John  \Yinans  lived  for  some  years  at  Ticonderoga, 
but  v.dicn  he  died  he  was  buried  at  Poughkeepsie.  He 
had  a  son,  Stuart,  and  two  daughters,  Sarah,  who  mar- 
lied  a  Jjingham,  and  Joanna  Stuart,  who  married 
I'homas,  son  of  Ebenezer  Douglass,  and  spent 
her  early  marrieel  life  in  ^Yestport.  Joanna  was  the 
youngest  child  of  John  ^Yinaus,  and  it  was  his  fancy  to 
take  her  with  him  on  the  first  trip  of  the  Veruiont,  a 
little  girl  carrying  her  kitten  iu  her  arms.  She  made  a 
most  rem  antic  marriage,  at  the  age  of  fifteen  years  and 
six  mouths,  to  Thomas  Douglass,  oidy  a  few  years  older 
than  iierself.  It  is  told  that  he  fell  in  love  with  her 
when  he  iirst  saw  her,  a  little  barefoot  girl  iu  her  fath- 
er's orchard,  when  both  the  Winans  and  the  Douglass 
familit^s  lived  in  Ticonderoga.  A  daughter  of  Thotuas 
Douglass  and  Joanna  Winans,  Kate,  born  in  Westport 
in  18'2-"),  and  now  ^frs.  James  A.  Al'a'U,  has  kindly  given. 


212  jnsTOh'V  OF  \vi:sTi'nirr 

me  these  detuils.  Otber  cliiWron  of  Thomas  Douglass 
were  Elizaljetli,  aftei  wurcl  Mrs.  Saxe,  ]\[ary,  and  Gib- 
sou,  the  latter  now  living  in  Buffalo. 

It  was  indeed  a  wonderful  day.  when  the  J'enitnuf 
steamed  for  the  first  time  up  throufrh  the  Narrows,  past 
Iiock  Harbor,  across  the  ha}-  and  on  |)ast  Barber's 
J-*oint,  on  her  way  to  Whitehall.  AVhen  the  wind  was 
fair  the  furry  boats  out-saik'd  her,  but  well  knew  all 
these  New  Kngland  men,  with  their  natural  insight  into. 
the  power  of  mechanic  forces,  that  the  day  of  the  sail- 
ing boat  was  over.  There  are  amusing  stories  of  tht-3 
first  steamboat  on  the  Mississippi  river,  and  the  terri- 
fied darkies,  who  believed  it  the  actual  presentment  of 
the  Evil  One,  fiery-eyed  and  snorting,  walking  on  the 
water,  but  there  was  no  one  on  our  shores,  we  may  be 
sure,  whoso  imagination  was  thus  excited  by  the  ad- 
vent of  the  puthng  and  churning  little  Vennoni. 
Bather  the  keen-eyed  Yankees  went  down  to  tht- 
Point  to  see  her  go  by,  and  tried  to  explain  to  the 
boys  who  stood  with,  them  how  the  steam  inside  the 
boat  made  the  paddle-wheels  go  round.  The.  early 
steam-l>oat!>  seldom  or  never  made  shore  landings,  even 
after  v.harves  were  built,  l>ut  stopped  outside  and  sent 
oil' a  small  boat  to  the  shore  with  passengers  or  freight. 
This  must  have  been  duo  to  timidity  oii  the  part  of  the 
pilot,  and  })erhaps  the  timidity  was  due  to  the  lack  of 
charts  in  which  complete  confidence  could  bo  placed. 

In  this  same  eventful  year  of  1807  the  county  seat 
was  changed  from  Essex  to  Elizabcthtown,  where  it 
h.as  remained  ever  since.     Th.e  change  from  the  extreme 


HISTORY  OF  WKsrroirr  2jh 

eastern  eclj^e  of  flie  couuty  to  a  point  nearer  the  centre 
sliows  a  thickening  of  the  popuhition  tiway  from  the 
lake.  While  this  change  vastly  increased  the  import- 
ance of  the  settlement  at  Pleasant  Yalle}',  it  also 
brought  a  double  stream  of  commerce  and  travel  to 
Northwest  Bay. 

In  1808  tlie  last  patent  of  ^yestport  laud  was 
granted, — the  smaller  Jonas  Morgan  patent,  coutain- 
ing  seven  liuudred  acres,  and  lying  in  tlie  northwest 
corner  of  the  township.  Only  about  half  of  the  patent 
is  on  our  side  of  the  Black  river,  the  other  half  lying  in 
Elizabethtown.  It  lies  west  of  the  McCormick  patent, 
and  its  southwest  corner  touches  the  north  line  of  the 
larger  Jonas  Morgan  patent,  granted  in  1799.  Jonas 
Morgan  had  already  built  a  forge  on  the  Black  river, 
at  the  pla^e  which  we  now  call  Meigsville,  on  the  west- 
ern shore,  which  was  the  first  forge  on  that  river. 
This  he  sold  to  Jacob  Southwell. 

The  Act  of  the  Legislature  granting  the  smaller  pat- 
ent, April  "28,  1808,  runs  as  follows: 

"Whereas  it  hath  been  represented  to  the  Legislature 
by  Jonas  Morgan  and  Ebenezer  W.  Walbridge  in  their 
petition  that  the^'  have  it  in  contemjdatiou  to  erect 
works  of  diffeieut  kinds  for  the  manufacture  of  iron,  in 
]:Ldizabetht<jwn  in  the  county  of  Esses,  and  on  account 
of  the  great  eipense  and  risk  attending  the  erection  of 
such  works  they  have  prayed  for  legislative  aid  ; 

"And  whereas  the  erection  of  such  works,  and  espe- 
cially of  a  furna'co  for  casting  of  pig-iron,  hollow  ware 
.■Did  stoves,  in  that  part  of  tlu;  state,  whore  irojj  ores  of 


■214  III  STOUT  OF  Wi:STPORT 

the  best  quality  and  the  materials  for  working  the  same 
are  abundant,  would  bo  so  beneficial  to  the  state  at 
large,  and  j)articalarly  to  the  northern  part  of  it,  as 
justly  to  entitle  suc-h  an  undertaking  to  encouragenient 
and  aidfroni  the  Leglislature  ; 

"And  whereas  it  is  also  represented,  that  there  is  a 
tract  of  vacant  land  belonging  to  the  people  of  this 
state,  lying  in  the  toun  of  Elizabothlowu  aforesaid,  on 
the  north  side  of  a  tract  of  land  belonging  to  the  said 
Jonas  ^Morgan,  on  which  he  has  already  erected  a  forge, 
and  adjoining  to  the  same,  which  will  be  useful,  and  in 
time  perhaps  absolutely  necessary-  for  carrying  on  the 
conteni])lated  works  to  advantage,  therefore" — the  state 
not  only  granted  Morgan  and  Walbridge  the  land,  but 
lent  them  three  thousand  dollars  for  the  prosecution  of 
the  work,  on  condition  that  the  furnace  be  running 
v.-ithiu  three  years,  a  condition  which  was  probably  ful- 
filled, since  we  find  mention  of  "Morgan's  New  Forge" 
in  the  town  records  of  1815.  ^Yhether  he  really  cast 
stoves  and  hollow  ware  I  do  not  know,  nor  whether  he 
made  or  lost  a  fortune  on  the  banks  of  the  Black  river. 
Before  1S16  he  had  sold  out  to  Brainard  and  Mitchell, 
who  built  a  grist  mill  a  little  further  down  on  the  east 
side,  and  since  that  time  the  place  has  always  been 
known  as  Braiuard's  Forge.  Mr.  Wallace  Pierce,  to 
whom  I  am  indebted  for  much  information  in  regard  to 
the  Black  river  country,  had  the  impression  that  al- 
though the  dam  went  out  in  the  great  freshet  of  1830, 
the  forge  was  not  carried  away.  Mr.  Fierce  also  told 
me  this  storv  about  Jonas  Morgnn.      "The  south  line  of 


HISTORY  OF  WKsrroirr  210 

\\'\<.  .smaller  patent  auJ  the  north  lino  of  his  larger  pat- 
ent are  about  a  halt"  mile  apart.  In  bnih.liiij^  his  dam 
at  BrainarJ's  Forge  he  flooded  this  strip  of  state  land, 
and  at  once  applied  for  another  grant,  asking  for  a 
thousand  acre's  niore,  claiming  that  he  had  flooded 
tliat  nuich  stato  laud.  An  engineer  was  sent  from  Al- 
li;i!jy  who  scaled  Morgan's  pond  and  found  only  eiglit}'- 
four  acres  of  state  land  covered  with  water,  a  ))atent  for 
which  he  received  in  1810." 

It  seems  to  have  been  in  IROS  that  the  tirst  Justice 
of  the  Peace  was  appointed  for  our  side  of  the  river,  an 
onicial  quite  necessary  for  the  adjustment  of  small  dis- 
jnites  and  for  the  transaction  of  ordinary  legal  busi- 
ness. The  appointee  was  Piatt  llogers,  Jr.,  and  it  may 
be  assumed  that  his  justice  courts  were  held  in  the  bar- 
room of  the  inn  of  his  brother-in-law,  John  Halstead. 
The  tirst  book  containing  the  records  of  the  Baptist 
cijurch  was  presented  to  thai  body  by  Piatt  Rogers, 
who  probabl}-  held  a  strict  monopoly  of  the  trade  in 
blank  books  at  this  time. 

It  was  also  in  ISOS  that  James  W.  Coll  came  from 
Ticonderogit  and  settled  at  the  mouth  of  the  Raymond 
brook,  building  his  mills  where  Raymond  had  built 
liis  before  hiui.  Here  a  thriving  colony  soon  sprang 
up,  its  population  fcu'  some  years  exceeding  that  of 
Northwest  Bay,  with  a  saw  mill,  a  grist  mill,  lime  kilns, 
a  blacksmith  shop  and  a  brickyard.  Coll  built  his 
liouse  a  little  way  north  of  the  mill  site,  on  the  corner, 
whore  it  still  stands,  with  its  massive  squaie  timbers, 
<nit  from  the  tj-ees  of  the  ftu-ot  primeval.      It   was  a  I'eJ 


'J  10  iiiSTOh'v  OF  wi:srroi!T 

house  with  long,  ylojnnp;  roof,  with  a  great  ehimiiey  aiul 
firephices,  aud  was  usoJ,  like  so  man}-  of  the  pioneer 
houses,  as  an  iun.  The  house,  with  all  the  lauil  of  the 
neighborhood,  now  belongs  to  the  Westport  Farms. 

James  W.  Coll  was  born  in  1783,  came  here  a  young 
man  twenty-five  years  old,  and  lived  to  the  age  of  nine- 
ty. He  must  have  visited  these  shores  some  years  be- 
fore his  final  settlement,  since  he  was  accustomed  to 
say  that  he  saw  Northwest  Bay  when  the  only  house 
there  was  built  of  logs  and  thatched  with  bark.  He 
had  two  brothers,  Samuel  and  Levi,  who  came  and  set- 
tled near  him  at  Coil's  Bay.  Notice  that  the  name  is 
Coll,  and  not  Cole.  They  were  not  at  all  related  to  the 
family  of  Edward  Cole,  w  ho  lived  at  Northwest  Bay. 
The  disentanglement  of  these  two  names  in  the  history 
of  the  town  would  be  to  a  stranger  a  hopeless  task,  as 
both  Colls  and  Coles  were  exceediugh-  numerous,  and 
the  jironuuciation  exactly  the  same.  It  is  of  the  less 
importance  to-day  since  there  is  not  a  single  person  in 
tow^n  now  bearing  either  name  since  the  recent  death 
of  Hinkley  Coil,  who  was  the  son  of  Levi  Coll.  Coil's 
Bay  is  often  mis-spelled  on  the  maps  as  "Cole's,"  the 
distinction  being  too  tine  for  the  average  engraver  to 
apprehend.  In  the  county  atlas  it  is  OdcH's  Bay,  this 
name  being  sometimes  heard,  from  a  family  who  seem 
to  luive  lived  at  the  bay  in  early  times."-' 

*Jatues  W.  Coll  had  four  children.  Thomas  went  west, 
and  lived  iu  Clevclaad.  Ohio:  I'olly  niairicd  WashiiiLjti»u 
Lee,  of  .Muritih:  Eliuor  married  Israel  Puttison.  auci  Isabe: 
married  James  If.  Parnsuorth.  All  the  deseeudauts  oi' 
James  W.  Coll  now  living  in    WestpoM   are   childi'eii   and 


HISrORY  OF  WKSTl'Oh'T  217 

:j-iMiKk'hiIdren  of  his  cliinirhters  Elinor  and  Isabel.  The 
family  uf  Hinkley  Coll  is  uow  rc-]ireseijtt  d  by  his  dauohtcf 
Mibiii).  who  nuirried  Adolbort  Shi'i'inuii.  and  his  ^--raiid- 
dau^djter  Bessie  Shermau. 

About  1810  Joseph  Jenks  came  from  Pleasaut  A'^alley, 
\^l!ere  he  had  se'ttled  in  1804,  coming  tliore  from  Nine 
Tartners,  Dutchess  county,  a  phice  \vell-kiiowD  as  a 
-trongliold  of  the  Friends,  or  Quakers.  The  Jenks 
family  held  this  serene  and  unwarlike  faith,  and  had 
ronie  to  Dutchess  county  from  Rhode  Island.  Joseph 
Jfiiks  became  a  man  of  consideration  in  Pleasant  Valley, 
was  a}:ipointed  Justice  of  the  Peace  and  Assistant 
•ludiie  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  March  27,  1805, 
and  advanced  to  First  Judge  of  tlie  Court  of  CoDHuon 
PK-as  April  6,  1811.  He  died  at  Northwest  Pay  in  1815, 
and  was  buried  in  the  "south  burying  ground."  His 
uift/s  name  was  Habuah.  His  daughter  ]Mary  married 
Ira  Her.dorson,  who  was  born  nnar  Fort  Ann,  Washing- 
ton county,  in  1791,  and  came  to  Northwest  Bay  from 
^\'hitehall  before  1815.  Their  chihlren  were  :  George, 
who  married  Clarissa  Eichards,  and  went  west  l^efore 
the  war  ;  Elvira,  (Mrs.  Andrews);  Caroline,  (Mrs.  P.ig- 
alow,  of  Chicago);  and  ^lary  Ann,  wlio  married  William 
Pilchards,  sou  of  "Cyrus  Richards,  and  hfis  always  lived 
in  West  port. 

The  children  of  William  and  Mary  Ann  Riehai'ds  : 

L   Henry  H.  nun'rieJ  Clara    Eusi^^ai.    and    had  one  s(iu. 

Freti.      Alter  the  death  of  his  tirst  wife  he  married  Hlecta 

lioynton.  dauLditer  ui  J.  S.   lioyuton  of  Jay. 
1.   Fred  married  Alice  Sweatt.  dau<:hler  uf  Fi-ankSweatt 

of  Wad  bams.      He  was  accidentally  thrown   from  a  bug<j;y, 

reeeivinir  i;.iaries  frcni  which  he  died. 


iV.s'  nis'ninv  or  WKsrroirr 

;-i.    Fi-aiK-<-s  iii;iri-i(.".l   Mont  ford    Weed,  and    Las   two  eh 
drerj.  ifan-y  and  Doliy. 

4.    Lillian  mat-rit'd  Alorritr  Clark,    and    Las  three  dau^' 
tt-rs.  Jessie,  FU»rt'ii(;(\  and  CorDelia. 

Cyrus  l!icliav(la  oaine  from  southern  Vermout  as  -i 
youug  man,  and  settled  at  Barber's  Point,  afterward 
Mjovin^u;  t<:»  Northwest  Bay.  He  married  IsabeHa  Mae- 
Conley,  sister  of  :\[rs.  .James  W.  CoH.  The  MacCouleys 
were  Scotch,  and  hved  at  Coil's  Bay.  One  of  the 
(hinij;ht(>rs  married  a  McKenzie  of  Port  Henry. 

The  children  of  Cyrus  Richards  : 

William  married  .Mary  Ann  Fleuderson.  Samautha  mar- 
ried .ToLd  If.  Nichols..  Eiiza  married  Hezekiah  Frisbie.  soa 
of  Levi.  Mary  married  Ephraim  Bradh.>y.  Cyrus  mar- 
ried, first.  Mary  Mclntyre,  second.  Julia  Marsh.  _  Cbaries 
was  drowned  in  the  lake  when  only  a  boy.  Clarissa  mar- 
ried Georije  Henderson.      Harton  married  Ahnira  Xewell. 

Id  1810  oeciirred  tlie  survey  <»f  the  Iron  Ore  Tract, 
called  the  ''Kellogg  survey,"  rendered  so  difficult  to 
the  surveyors  employed  l)eeause  of  tlie  variations  in  thw 
magnetic  neeille  caused  by  the  attraction  of  the  iron 
ore  in  the  rocks  and  mountains.  There  is  an  interest- 
ing old  map  (jf  this  Tract,  then  lying  in  two  townships, 
Moriah  and  Elizabethtown.  The  maj).  now  hanging  in 
the  village  Library,  gives  us  the  (dd  name  of  Nichols 
Pond',  S[»ring  Pond,  iiulicatiug  that  the  source  of  its 
water  is  to  l)e  found  in  a  number  of  springs  in  the  bot- 
tom. Other  ])t)nds  are  shown  where  the  latest  survey 
sliows. only  a  marsh.  Perhaps  another  hundred  years 
of  forest  cutting  will  dry  the  surface  of  the  earth  so  that 
we  shall  have  no  ponds  left  at  all.  Our  Mullein  Brook 
is  called- "Bever  Creek,"  as  it  is  on  Sauthier's  ma]i  of 
177'.).     Tle-r.'   uv  'I'.VV  lots  in  this  gront  tract,  and    soni<> 


njSTOh'Y  OF  WJ-JS7T0NT  21U 

.  f  theia  are  marked  with  the  uames  of  ouDers,  in  mauy 
r.vsi-s  quite  illegible.  Six  lots  iu  the  eastern  part  are 
Marked  "Stacy,"  ten  lots  "Noble,"  two  "Douglass,"  one 
'■('.  Hatch"  and  three  "C.  B.  Hatch."  "Essex  Court 
House"  stands  at  Pleasant  Valley,  and  the  roads  all 
iLiu  very  much  as  they  do  to-day,  with  some  small  dif- 
ferences which  are  interesting  as  showing  the  trend  of 
i  :iily  settlement.  The  maj*  seems  to  have  been  used 
by  the  committee  which  divided  the  towns  iu  1815,  and 
it  is  probable  that  it  once  belonged  to  Squire  Hatch. 

That  there  was  a  school-house  at  Northwest  Bay  be- 
ii>v*t  ISll  is  proved  by  a  receipt  found  among  the  pa- 
|H.-rs  of  Peter  Ferris,  which  runs  as  follows  : 

"Pveceived  of  John  Ferris  ten  dollars  in  full  for  two 
Itiu'lits  iu  the  school-house  at  Northwest  Bay,  which  I 
authorize  said  Ferris  to  occupy  or  dispose  of  for  his 
own  proper  use,  as  I  myself  could  do.  Witness  my 
li.uitl,  signed  at  Elizabethtown,  this  10th  day  of  Sep- 
t.'inber,  ISll. 

Signed,  Levi  Cole. 

This  John  Ferris  must  have  been  the  father  of  Peter 
Ferris,  often  called  "Joliu  Ferris,  Jr.,"  to  distinguish 
liim  from  his  father,  John  A.  Ferris.  John  Ferris,  Jr. 
niarried  the  widou-  of  Rowland  Nichols,  whose  maiden 
n;irue  was  Patience  Cole,  and  who  married  Piowlaud 
Nichols  Oct.  24,  1802,  at  Pittstown,  Rensselaer  county, 
as  her  wedding  certificate  attests.  This  briugs  in  a 
family  of  Coles  entirely  separate  from  the  family  of 
1^(1  ward  Cole,  ami  whose  names  recurring  in  town  and 
I'liuich  rec(>r».ls  ;nid  to  fhe  confusion  iu   leuard    to   this 


■■^'■^o  HISTORY  OF  \vi:srro}rr 

surname.  'JMie  f.itlier  oi  Patience  Cole  seems  to  Lave 
been  lieubeu,  a  sea  captain  who  tvaded  from  New  York 
to  the  West  Inrlies,  and  whose  quaint  silver  watch  de- 
sceiv.led  to  Peter  Ferris.  There  was  a  Calamus  Qol-^i 
in  this  family,  but  in  what  relationshij.  1  cannot  tell.  I 
am  also  very  much  puzzled  with  the  early  Ferrises. 
There  was  a  "Squire  Ferris,"  and  a  Diadunia  I'erris 
among  the  early  members  of  the  Baptist  church,  but 
I  have  not  been  able  to  connect  them  with  any  succeed- 
ing Ferris.  No  doubt  there  is  some  one  in  town  who 
could  disentangle  all  these  threads  and  lay  thetn  out  in 
perfect  order,  but  I  have  not  yet  had  the  good  fortune 
to  ajipeal  to  the  rigid  one. 

One  of  the  earliest  settlers  was  Nathan  Hammond, 
upon  the  western  border  of  Skene's  Patent,  a  littl^^ 
soutliwest  of  the  Bay.  The  place  is  now  occupied  by 
Piusii  Howard.  Whence  the  Hamtnonds  came,  and  in 
what  year,  1  cannot  tell,  but  it  was  certainly  bet\n-e  1S09, 
and  probably  several  years  earlier.  Nathan  Hammond 
had  two  sons,  Calvin  and  Gideon.  Calvin  married 
Wealthy  Holcond),  sister  of  Dr.  Diadorus.  Gideon 
was  married  three  times,  his  first  wife  b.^ing  Sallv  Bar- 
ber, daughter  of  Hezekiah.  Her  children  were  Saman- 
tha,  who  married  Dan  Kent,  and  Huldah,  who  niarried 
a  Oolburn.  The  name  of  the  second  wife  I  have  not 
been  able  to  discover,  but  her  children  were  Cornelia, 
Charlotte,  Sarah  and  Ptensselaer.  The  third  wife  wa-^ 
Naney  Chandler  and  her  children  were  Caroline,  Mary 
Ann  antl  Jane. 

Cude*>n  Hammond  uas  a  [jromineut  mm  in    his    day 


lusroRY  OF  wsKTPoirr  -jji 

-upt-rvisor,  Member  of  Asseinbh',  and  the  iiicniiibent 
<>'  tu;iuy  other  public  oliic'es.  He  was  elected  deacon  of 
the  Baptist  church  iu  1S17,  aud  filled  that  otRce  until 
hi^  death  iu  IS-AG.  He  dealt  largely  iu  lumber,  sendinjj; 
<.iit  ^'reat  rafts  to  Canada  aud  later  to  New  York.  He 
aUo  collected  herds  of  cattle  and  drove  theui  to  the 
Muith,  sometimes  takin,^  them  as  far  as  New  York,  fol- 
lu\vin;j;  them  on  horseback  or  on  foot,  a  journey  of  weeks. 
Ihese  droves  of  cattle  or  siieep  were  a  feature  of  the 
life  before  the  raihoad  came,  every  sunimer  seeing  the 
piissage  of  many  of  them  through  our  streets.  Mrs. 
Harriet  Sheldon  remembers  her  father,  Hezekiah  I'ar- 
Ix'r,  ac-companying  Gideon  Hammond  on  one  of  these 
trips,  rendered  memorable  by  the  red  cashmere  dress 
I  rought  back  to  the  little  girl  from  the  great  city.  After 
tiie  Deacon's  death,  the  Hammonds  led  a  large  party  of 
♦  luigrants  to  Iowa,  then  considered  the  far,  far  west. 

Another  prominent  family  was  that  of  the  Holcomb.s. 
The  name  of  Deacon  Abner  G.  Plolcomb  is  first  fouud 
in  the  church  records  in  1812.  He  came  from  Daii- 
hury,  Connecticut,  with  his  wife,  Mindwell,  aud  accom- 
panied or  fcjllowed  by  four  children,  Horace,  \Yealthy, 
•b)nathan  and  Di;idoriis.  Horace  went  west  aud  died 
in  Ohio  at  the  age  of  eighty-six,  ^Yeal}hy  married  Cal- 
vin Hammoiul,  and  Jonathan,  comnundy  remembered 
as  '"Uncle  Jock,"  lived  all  the  latter  i)art  of  his  life  at 
iiasiu  Harl)or.  Of  all  the  family,  that  tuie  who  seems 
t"  h;ive  had  the  most  varied  aud  interesting  career  was 
I>iad»n-us.  He  was  the  fust  ]>hysician  at  Northwest 
I5ay,  and  the  (;nl\-  one    for    \n:\\\\    vears.       He   and    Dr. 


2-j-j,  i!iST(H!y  OF  WEsrroirr 

Aiexaiiiler  Morse  of  Pleasant  ^'alloy  i-oJe  ()ver  all  th.- 
t-ouiitry  from  the  njountains  of  Keeue  to  the  lake  shore, 
with  their  oliicial  sarldle- bags,  carrying  help  and  lieal- 
iug  to  a  people  who  often  sorely  needed  both.  No  0:1^ 
did  better  or  more  unselfish  work  in  the  pioneer  davs 
than  these  oaily  doctors,  whose  medical  education  was 
usually  oljtained  by  reading  in  the  otlice  of  some  older 
pra(;titiouer.  Dr.  Holeomb  was  Surgeon's  Mate  in  the 
87th  regiment  in  the  war  of  1S12,  and  did  good  service 
at  the  battle  of  Plattsburgh,  being  afterward  promo- 
ted Surgeon  of  his  regiment.  He  was  a  Free  Mason, 
and  the  mystic  symbol  of  the  order  is  cut  upon  his 
tombstone,  whii-li  also  states  that  he  was  born  in  Con- 
necticut, Feb.  2,  1780,  aud  died  in  Westport,  Sept.  'i-'), 
IS.59.  He  was  ap{)ointed  Justice  (->f  the  Peace  in  1811 
and  iu  181-1,  and  in  1815  Assistant  Judge  of  the  Court  of 
(^)mmon  Ph^as. 

Diiulorus  lk)K'omb's  lii'st  wife  was  Sybil  Spalding',  n:' 
Piintou.  V't.  After  his  niari'iai/e  he  moved  to  .Schrooti. 
and  at  the  tirst  town  election  there  in  1804,  was  elected 
follectur.  lie  afterward  moved  to  Northwest  Bay.  where 
his  wife  died,  at  the  age  of  thirt\'-ODe,  leavintj  six  littl-' 
children,  Amos.  Rebecca,  Lueinda,  Diadorus,  Jr.,  and  two 
little  ^'irls  who  were  twins,  Maria  aud  Minerva.  Tlic 
widower,  married  airain.  a  youiii,'  widow  who  was  the 
oldest  daughter  of  Etios  Lovelaud.  Her  name  was  Sylvia, 
and  her  tirst  husband  was  Marcus  floisin^'tou,  by  whuiii 
>ihf  luid  uue  child.  .Marcus,  By  Dr.  Holeomb  she  bad  four 
children.  Wiliiam.  Henry  Harrisou,  Franklin  B.  and  Al- 
mira.  After  the  death  of  hi*  second  wife  Di-.  Hi)li.-o!no 
married  Harriet  Sturtevant,  grand-daughter  of  Gen.  Dani-d 
Wrifjlit  Tiie  ten  children  ot  Dr.  Holcomij  mafried  as  fol- 
lows; 

1.      Amos  married  thirriet  Barber,  dau;.'l:ter  of  Hezekiah. 

'i.      Iv'i.u'cca  inarri.'fl  Sarm.:t.'l  Cole,  son  ol  E.lward. 


JflSTOin'  OF  WK  ST  PORT  '22:i 

8,  Lucinda  married  first  a  Ferris  aad  aftt-ru'ard  Isaac- 
Lyon. 

4.  Diadurus.  ,]i-.,  married  twice,  atid  each  time  a  Cole. 
Tho  first  wife  was  Koxy.  daughter  of  Caleb  Cole :  the 
>ee<)ud  was  ^iaria  Samautha,  daughter  of  a  Dr.  Cole,  not 
at  all  related  to  the  Coles  previously  mentioned. 

.').     Maria  married  Harry  J.  Persons. 

W.     ^lijjerva  married  William  J.  Cuttiu"-. 

7.  William  married  an  Everest. 

8.  Fj-ankliu  was  in  business  in  Westpurt  for  some  years, 
but  I  cannot  tind  \vhom  he  married. 

l«.  Henry  Harrison  married  Aurilla.  daui^hterof  Darius 
Ferris.  He  was  the  last  surviviu-  of  this  family,  dying  iu 
VMYl.  aged  eighty -six. 

10.     Almira  mai-ried  Warren  Cole. 

Thougli  Levi  Frisbie  came  ^vitll  Life  brother-in-law, 
liezekiah  15arber,  iu  17S5,  and  helped  bim  to  clea*"  tbe 
ground  and  build  a  shelter  for  bis  family,  be  returued 
to  Connecticut  at  tlie  end  of  the  season,  and  did  not 
come  to  make  a  permanent  settlement  npim  Bes.sboro 
until  after  tbe  death  of  Hezekiah  Barber  in  ISIO.  He 
\'.  as  liere  before  1812,  and  lived  for  a  time  in  the  house 
with  bis  sister,  the  original  log  cabin  having  been  given 
up  f.nr  a  comfortable  frame  house  a  Httle  farther  back 
from  the  lake.  This  house  is  completely  gone  at  the 
j're.^ent  writiny^  but  one  need  not  be  very  old  to  re- 
member it  us  the  c^ue  called  ."the  old  Young  house." 
•Irrusha,  oldest  daughter  of  Hezekiah  Barber,  married 
Alexander  Young,  and  to  her  fell  the  house  ;it  Barber's 
I'oiut ;  hence  its  name.  Levi  Frisbie  built  iiis  own 
liouse,  a  log  cabin,  on  the  lake  road,  about  half  way  be- 
tween the  Point  and  Northwest  Bay.  His  land  lay  in 
tlie  extreme  northwest  corner  of  Bessboro,  ami  the  road 
b'i>ni  the  Point  ran  along  below  the  ledge,  passing  to 
tile  east  (»f  his  Iioum-.     He  had  bt-eu  a  ca[)tain   of    mili- 


l-2i 


u  I  STORY  OF  ]V[:srroi:T 


tia  in  CoiUK.'ctiriit,  ;i)j,l  uiieu  the  war  of  lSl-2  Ijioko  (,ut 
I'e  u.j^.miz.nl  ai.1  (•o.unKii.kHl  a-  co.npanv    ii,  this  b.un 
which   di.l    goo.l     service,    eq)ecially    at    the    battle    of 
riattshui-l,,  where  the  gallant  captain   lost   a   l.u       \t 
the  tirst  town  electiun,  in  1815,  he   was  elected   i^.,^^^,. 
ble  and   collector,    ..tllces  to    which    he    was    anuuaiiv 
elected  for  thirteen  years.      lulSin   a   new   school    dis- 
trict, was  formed,  and  the    "stone    school    house"    built 
'iot  far  froui  the  captain's  home.      Now  the  cai,tain  was 
a  man  accustomed  to  command,   on    the  .  battle-Mel,]   nr 
m  the  neighborhood,  and  was  perhaj^s  sr,mewhat   arbi- 
trary.    At  aiiy  rate,  there  was  a  famous  "school   iK^n.e 
war  '  over  tlie  new  school  house,  and  the   storv   will  al- 
ways bo  told  of  the  wrath  of    Captain  Frisbie 'when    he 
was  ont-voted  in  school  meeting.     The  point  of  dispute 
J  never  learne.l.     Perhaps  he    objected    to    ha^in-    the 
windows  put  in  so  hi^h  from  the  ground  that   no    mor- 
tal child  could  ever  see  <nit  of   th.m  unless  he  stood  ..u 
t..p  ot  a  desk.      If  so,    I    wish    the    captain    nd^ht    have 
J'=^^^  Ins  way.      Uuc  he  was  worsted,  and    his    ven.n>an... 
was  a    complete    withdrawal    from    all    school    cH.tiict 
'natters  from  that  tiui-.  henceforth,  and  to  him  the  stoi^e 
school  house  was  as  n  tiling  which  had  lu;  existence,  to 
the  last  day  of  his  life.      In  the  same  vear,    1810,    Cap- 
tain Frisbie  and  his  wife  were  vervacthe  in  the  form'- 
tion  of  the  M.-tho.iist  church,  he   being    the   first    cla>s 
hader,  and  a  tirm  supporter  of  the   c-hurch   all'  his   lif... 
lu  1S4()  he  built  him^a  new  housf,    of  the  stone  ..f  thr 
neighborho.Kl,  chousing  a  spot  a  little  farther  we.t  th:ui 
Ins  hrstlocatiMU       \\y    tiiis    time   the    road    l)elow    th. 


Ill  STORY  OF  WEST  PORT  2i>.T 

letlj^e  was  not  so  uiuch  used,  and  the  highway  ran  as  we 

now  sec  it.      Eefoio  the  old  captain  could  move  into  his 

new  house  he  was  taken  sick  and  died.     The  new  house 

was  occupied  by  the  family,  and  afterward    Levi   Fris- 

bie,  third  of  the  name,  owned  it,  until  a  few  years  ago 

it  was  sold  to  Profossoi-  Marks  of  Thiladelphia. 

The  uame  of  Captaiu  Frisbie's  wife  was  Sally  Johnson. 
When  they  came  into  town  they  broug-htwith  thein  a  family 
of  eit^ht  children,  and  three  more  were  born  after  they 
settled  here.     These  are  their  names: 

1.  Levi,  hnvn  IT'.U,  died  when  a  youDL,'  man. 

2.  Willard.  b.  17V)8,  married  Aim  Kuapp,  half  sister  of 
Guy  Stevens.     Guy  Frisbie  of  this  place,  is  bis  son. 

i>.  Willimn,  b.  1801,  married  Marv  Peek;  second,  Mary 
Orr. 

4.  Sally,  b.  ISO:!,  mai-ried  first,  l^auiel  Clark;  second, 
Mr.  Mtdntyre.  Her  daughter  Harriet  Clark  married  .\aron 
Clark,  SOD  of  David. 

5.  Andrew,  b.  1805,  married  Sally  Nichols.  Three  of 
their  children  with  their  families,  are  now  liviug  in  town  ; 
Henry,  married  Ruth  Greeley;  Catberiue.  married  George 
Pattisou;  Miua.  married  Henry  Warren. 

G.     Anna,  b.  ISOT,  married  IJi.'hjannu  Beers. 

7.     Jerusha.  b.  1809,  married  Reuben  Nichols. 

S.     Hezekiab,  b.  ISll,  married  Kliza  Richards. 

it.  Emeliue.  b.  1813,  married  Dan  Piatt  Pond,  whose 
father.  Captain  Jared  Pund,  was  on  the  battle-tield  of 
Plattsburgh  with  Captaiu  Frisbie. 

10.  Maria.  b..l81o,  married  George  C.  Whitlock. 

11.  Levi,  b.  1818,  married  Julia  Reed.  Their  children. 
William.  Fred  and  Belle,  (Mrs.  Chai'Ies  Sprague,)  lived  for 
year.s  in  Wcstj/ort. 

One  of  the  earliest  settlers  was  Tiuiotliy  Sheldon, 
who  bought  his  laud  in  the  south  part  of  Bessboro,  and 
who  now  lies  buried  in  the  cemetery  at  Mullein  brook. 
One  of  his  sous  was  Otis  Sheldon,  and  another  sou  was 
named  after  Piatt  Rogers,  who  must  have  beeu  carry- 
ing on  ojierati^nis  at  liis  ore  beil    ou    tlie    shore    of  the 


226        .  HISTORY  OF  WKSTPORT 

lake  at  aliout  tho  time  that  Timotliy  Shclclon  settled 
liere.  The  Willsboro  Sheldons  came  from  Dutchess 
couuty,  and  it  is  probable  that  Timothy  Sheldon  also 
came  from  down  the  Hudson.  Piatt  Rogers  Sheldon 
M-as  the  father  of  Heury  Sheldon. 

The  Lows  lived  on  the  back  road,  on  the  farm  now 
owned  by  Henry  Sheldon.  Tlie  daughters  were  Sail}- 
and  Clarissa,  and  the  sons  Wilson,  Nelsou  and  John 
Hatch  Low.  The  latter  married  Eliza,  daughter  of 
Ftoderick  Eising. 

Joseph  Fisher  came  in  early,  and  built  a  mill  on 
Mullein  brook.  His  sou  Charles  had  four  daughters. 
Lillian,  Cynthia  (]Mrs.  Samuel  Root),  Jerusha  (Mrs. 
Mansfield  Howard],  and  Sally  (Mrs.  Dorr  Howard). 

Willard  Snow  was  a  boatman,  and  lived  at  Barber's 
Point  in  a  log  house  on  the  shore,  near  the  place  whert- 
the  lighthouse  now  stands.  He  ran  the  ferry  for  "the 
widow  Barber"  after  her  husband  died,  and  in  1824 
moved  to  Canada. 

In  the  IirvtiJie  of  Nov.  24, 1S13,  appears  an  advertise- 
ment signed  Nathaniel  Hinkley,  in  which  he  solicits 
patronage  for  a  uew  ferry  boat  just  built,  saying  that  he 
has  "been  to  great  expense  to  erect  a  suitable  Whari"' 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  rods  south  of  the  old  one 
"owned  and  kept  by  the  Widow  Barbe!."  The  slooj) 
"Hunter,"  N.  Hinkley,  cleared  at  the  custom  house  in 
181L 

A  large  pr(j])ortiou  of  our  earliest  names  are  found  in 
the  highlands  of  the  Black  river  CMintry.  Jacob  South- 
well was  elected  Assessor    in    179:5,    and    lived    on    the 


HISTORY  OF  WKSTPORT  227 

Black  river,  his  name  being  perpetuated  by  tlie  forge  ou 
tliat  stream  v.liieh  bo  i?  said  to  have  bought  of  Jonas 
Morgan. 

Sylvanns  Lobdell  was  the  first  clerk  of  the  new  town 
of  Elizabethtowu,  elected  1798,  and  was  probably 
father  of  Bonton  and  of  Captain  John  Lobdell.  Bouton 
Lobdell  lived  for  some  time  at  Northwest  Bay,  and  was 
tirst  clerk  of  the  ucv;  town  of  AVestport,  1815. 

At  the  town  meeting  of  1798  Norman  Newell  was 
elected  Assessor,  and  E.  Newell  school  commissioner 
and  one  of  the  overseers  of  highways.  In  1801  Ebe- 
nezer  Newell  was  appointed  Justice  of  the  Peace.  The 
Newells  seem  to  have  moved  from  Pleasant  Valley  to 
Northwest  Bay,  and  later  Elijah  Newell  kept  ftu  inn  on 
the  north  side  of  the  brook,  on  Pleasant  street. 

The  name  of  Joel  Finney  is  first  mentioned  in  the 
Baptist  church  book  in  1807,  and  soon  after  the  church 
was  meeting  at  his  house  "at  Northwest  Bay."  He 
seems  afterward  to  have  lived  on  Morgan's  Patent,  and 
was  buried  in  the  Black  river  cemetery.  He  was  re- 
lated to  Anna  Finney,  wife  of  Euos  Loveland. 

Joseph  Stacy  owned  large  tracts  of  land  along  the 
upper  course  of  the  Stacy  or  Raymond  brook,  in  the 
John  Williams"  patent  and  in  the  Iron  Ore  Tract,  He 
had  a  mill  on  the  brook,  and  his  house  stood  where 
Abram  and  John  Greeley  lived  for  some  time,  the  place 
now  owned  by  Mr.  Thomas  Lee. 

The  Nichols  family  went  still  deeper  into  the 
mountains  for  their  home,  settling  at  the  place  where 
the  trail  from  Spring  Pond  comes  out  to  the   highway, 


22S  lUSTOliV  OF  WKSTPOirr 

oil  the  farm  recently  sola  by  Ed.  McMahou  to  Tliouia> 
Lee.  The  pond  has  since  been  called  Nichols  pond  be- 
cause tliey  lived  near  it.  In  the  Hoisiu^'ton  cemetery 
an  ancient  stone  records  the  death  of  Benjamin  Nich- 
ols, aged  4G,  died  1S17,  and  doubtless  he  was  the  pi- 
oneer. 

The  nearest  neighbors  of  the  Nichols,  a  little  to  tht- 
south,  \vere  the  Harpers,  and  Joseph  Storrs,  John 
Stringham  and  Abram  Slougliter  are  all  named  as  early 
settlers,  living  on  Morgan's  Patent.  Elizabeth  Slough- 
ter  was  buried  in  the  Iloisiugtou  cemetery  in  1813.  X\\ 
these  names  are  found  iu  the  old  book  of  the  Baptist 
chureli,  and  we  know  that  when  the  Hammonds  went 
to  Iowa,  sometime  in  the  fifties,  the  Sloughttrs  and  tht- 
Nichols  and  the  Stacys  went  with  them,  seeking  a  richer 
and  a  deeper  soil  than  their  forefathers  had  chosi-n 
here. 

This  finishes  my  attempt  at  giving  a  list  of  the  family 
names  of  people  who  lived  iu  Westport  before  the  war 
of  1812.  No  one  will  expect  me  to  perform  any  such 
historical  feat  as  making  the  list  absolutely  exhaustive. 
These  names,  with  an  outline  of  the  principal  public 
events  in  tlie  town,  are  enough  to  form  a  very  inter- 
esting and  suggestive  picture  of  the  begiunings  of  oar 
town  life,  which,  in  the  mind  of  any  one  familiar  witii 
its  later  years,  will  be  tilled  out  with  many  vivid  de- 
tails, irresistibly  suggested. 

Two  men  who  were  never  residents  of  our  town  have 
still  had  so  strung  an  intiuence  upon  its  history  and  it> 
fortunes  thiit    the  sti.irv    would    m.t    be   complete  witii- 


IIISTOllY  OF  WJJSTPO/rr  22!) 

out  nientioniiig  them.     One  was  ijxe.  liev.    Cyrus  Com-  I 

stock,     the   raissioiiarj    preacher,    aud    the    other   was 
William  Eay,  editor  of  the  first  local  newspaper  which  I 

.'ver  recorded  events  in  the  town.      Both    men   left   an  ' 

iiiipress  upon  the  place  far  deeper  than   that   made  by  I 

scores  of  the  more  commonplace  peoj^le  who  had  act-  | 

ual  residence  upon  the  soil. 

It  janst  have  been  about  tlie  year  ISll  that  "Father  ,    ■  j 

Comstock"  first  saw  these  shores,  perhaps  coming  into 
Essex  county  by  way  of  Nortliwest  Bay.  He  came  as 
a  missionary  into  a  wild  and  untaught  region,  almost 
destitute  of  churches  or  of  any  form  of  religions  in- 
struction, sent  out  by  the  Berkshire  Missionary 
Society  of  Massachusetts  to  teach  and  to  preach,  and 
to  establish  churches  of  the  form  of  New  England  Con-  / 

gregationalism.     In  this  work  he  spent    the°remainder  | 

of  liis  life,  coming  into  the  county  a  man   of  fortv-sii,  ! 

and  living  to  be  eighty-eight.  lie  was  born  in  theVest- 
ern  part  of  Connecticut,  a  region  from  which  the  fami- 
lies of  Barber,  Frislup.  Holcoml),  Lovelaud  and  Wad- 
hams,  the  Nobles  of  Essex  and  the  Lees  of  Lewis,  as 
well  as  AYilliam  Bay  of  Pleasant  Valley,  all  came  origi- 
nally. He  found  in  the  township  of  Elizabethtown  two 
feeble  little  churches  of  the  Baptist  order,  one  at  Pleas- 
ant Valley  and  one  at  Northwest  Bav,  with  no  regular 
preaching,  holding  their  meetings  at  the  houses  of  the 
few  members  or  in  school-houses.  It  would  seem  that 
the  g.wd  man  rejoiced  as  much  over  this  seed  already 
sown  as  though  he  had  been  the  gardener,  and  had 
scattered  it  by  means  of  tho  s<)und  Congregational  ser- 


2S0  IflSTORY  OF  Wt:  ST  PORT 

mons  -wliicli  he  carried  in  his  own  saddle-bags,  as  it  is 
told  that  he  preached  to  the  Baptist  congregations  as 
often  as  he  came,  and  was  loved  and  looked  up  to,  and 
called  "Father  Comstock"  by  them  as  much  as  by  the 
Congregational  churches  which  he  founded  in  other 
places.  There  is  a  tradition,  and  we  have  little  doubt 
that  it  is  a  true  one,  that  he  founded  a  church  at  the  | 

Falls  in  1813,  but  as  no  records  are  left,   it  is  irapossi-  I 

ble  to  know  the  true  history  of  it.     It  is  certain  that  he  | 

often  preached  there  and  that  the  church  established  \ 

in  1827  owed  its  existence  to  his  influence,  and  to  tlie  \ 

teaching  which  the  people    had    heard  for  years  from  \ 

his  lips.     He  made  himself   universally  respected  and  ! 

loved,  and  had  great  reward  iu  that  his  name  is  never 
mentioned  but  with  pride  and  afl'ection  through  all 
the  region  in  which  he  lived  and  worked.  When  his 
gravestone  was  blown  down  iu  a  great  gale,  nearly  fifty 
years  after  his  death,  there  was  at  once  a  mcveaieutlo 
raise  a  subscription  for  a  new  one,  since  he  h.ad  left  no 
children  nor  rehitives  to  perforin  that  duty.  He  it  was 
who  invented  the  "buckboard,"  long  called  the  "Corn- 
stock  wagon,"  and  our  older  people  delight  to  recall 
him  as  he  jogged  over  the  country  in  this  conveyance. 
In  the  fall  of  1809  came  a  remarkable  man  to  settle 
in  Pleasant  Valley,  choosing  the  stir  and  importance 
of  the  County  seat  as  a  place  where  a  man  of  taleui 
might  expect  to  prosper.  He  had  had  a  most  unusual 
and  exciting  career.  Born  in  Sulisbuiy,  Conn.,  his 
father  had  moved  into  Dutchess  county.  New  York, and 
there  William  Hay  began  life  as  a  school   teacher,  but 


insTORY  OF  WEsrroirr  231 

soon  left  tbis  occupation  to  try  his  Land  "in  busi- 
ness." Failing  uttei-ly,  and  driven  Inird  by  his  credi- 
tors, he  enlisted  in  the  navy  as  a  common  seaman  on 
board  the PA;7r/(/e/^)///V(,  Captain  Bainbridge,  then  bound 
for  the  Mediterranean.  A  midshipman  ou  the  same 
ship  was  Thomas  Macdonough,  then  twenty  years  of 
age.  He  too  was  destined  afterward  to  see  Lake 
Ciiamplaii].  .  Arrived  in  the  Mediterranean  a  Moorish 
prize  was  captured,  and  Midshipman  Macdonough  was 
put  in  charge  of  the  prize  and  sent  home  with  it,  thus 
escaping  the  fate  of  those  left  onboard  the  Philadelphia, 
which  ran  ag?-ound  in  the  harbor  of  Tripoli,  October 
;^1,  1803,  and  was  cajjtured  with  all  on  board.  William 
Hay  was  thus  a  captive  in  Tripoli  for  nineteen  months, 
aud  upon  his  release  an<i  return  to  the  United  States 
he  published  a  book  relating  the  story  of  his  captivity. 
To-day  the  record  of  such  an  experience,  told  as  well 
as  Wiiliam  IJay  told  it,  would  sell  in  repeated  editions, 
but  "The  Horrors  of  Slavery,"  published  in  Troy 
in  ISOS,  made  Ibiy  neither  famous  or  wealthy,  and 
the  nest  year  we  find  him  making  a  hazard  of 
new  fortunes  in  this  northern  region.  He  lived  at 
Pleasant  Valley  for  about  three  years,  how,  we. 
cannot  tell,  but  evideutly  not  in  prosperous  circum- 
stances, as  appears  fr(;m  the  letters  he  was  contin- 
ually writing  to  the  Governor,  begging  for  some  ap- 
pointment. At  that  time  the  County  Clerks  were  not 
elected,  as  they  are  now,  but  appointed,  and  William 
Kay  urged  his  claims  to  thiit  office  with  a  persistency, 
n.  clearne-,s  aud  vigor  of  statement,  and  a  variety  of  ex- 


.  232  HIS  TOR  Y  OF  WL'STPOA'  T 

press;iou  wliicli  ^\•ou1d  liavn  made  liis  fortune  as  a  tweu- 
tietli  century  newspaper  reporter.  He  is  immensely 
like  Dickens'  Micawber,  with  bis  perennial  poverty 
and  his  tremendous  gifts  for  letter  writing,  but  without 
Micawber's  charming  and  irresponsilile  hopefulness. 
"Sir,"  he  writes  to  Governor  Tompkins  in  1811,  "Every 
letter  I  write  to  yonr  Excellency  I  make  a  sacritiee  of 
my  pride  to  the  strong  impulse  I  feel  to  communicate 
my  sentiments.  I  am  not  unconscious.  Sir,  that  too 
much  familiarity  between  characters  so  widely  discriuj- 
inated  would  be  incompatible  with  the  dignity  of  your 
superior  station — of  your  exalted  merits — I  trust  there- 
fore your  Excellency  will  not  attribute  my  correspond- 
ence to  vain  or  ostentatious  conceits  ;  but  will  indulge 
me  with  the  innocent  gratification  of  unburthening  a 
mind  oppressed  with  the  weight  of  its  own  comparative 
unworthiness."  Do  otUce-seekers  write  to  the  Gover- 
nor like  th;it  nowadays  V  He  makes  many  allusions  to 
the  men  active  in  Essex  county  politics  at  that  time, 
which  makes  his  letters  (discovered  in  the  mass  of 
Tompkins'  Papers  |)nrchased  by  the  state  in  ISSo)  verv 
interesting  reading.  He  ujeutious  Judge  Joseph  Jenks, 
who  had  not  at  that  time  moved  to  Northwest  Bay,  as 
one  of  his  warmest  friends  and  supporters.  In  April 
of  1812  he  made  his  deepest  mark  upon  our  history. 
Writing  to  the  Governor  lie  says  :  "Sir  :  I  enclose  you 
the  first  j)aper  ever  printed  in  this  Count}".  The  pro- 
prietors have  })laced  mo  at  the  liead  iA  its  etlitorial  ile- 
partmeut,  associated  with  Ezra  C.  Gross,  Esquire,  a 
young  genth-man  of  sound  i»riuciples  and  excellent  tal- 


IIISTOHY  OF  WESTl'ORT  233 

euts."  TLo  uvAUQ  of  the  papor  was  the  Iirrri/le,  a  happy 
choice,  especially  in  view  of  the  impending  war.  Ray 
cannot  have  edited  the  paper  very  long,  since  he  re- 
ceived an  appointment  in  August  as  Brigade  Quarter 
Master  of  the  3rd  Brigade,  and  went  to  Plattsburgh, 
\\  here  he  remained  six  mouths.  Then  he  left  the  coun- 
ty, and  is  known  to  have  been  at  a  number  of  different 
places  in  the  next  few  years,  being  at  last  completely 
lont  sight  of.  He  publib*hed  a  volume  of  poems  at  Au- 
liurn  in  1821. 

In  1811  he  seems  to  have  had  an  idea  that  Governor 
Tompkius  was  likely  to  visit  Elizabethtown,  or  perhaps 
he  assumed  the  fact  as  a  kind  of  poetic  license.  He 
thus  informs  "His  Excellency:" 

You'll  cross  the  lake  at  Northwest  Bay, 
Ei^^'ht  tniles  computed  from  this  villui^e; 

The  laud  uneven,  rough  the  way, 
The  soil  is  good,  but  bad  the  Ullage. 

When  the  last  emioeuce  you  rise, 

From  log-built  huts,  aud  shabby  people, 

The  object  uext  that  stfikes  your'eyes 

Will  be,  perhajis,  the  Court  House  steeple. 

From  east  to  west  a  plaiu  extends, 

I'roiu  north  to  ^>outh  a  valley  stretches, 

And  through'the  whole  a  streamlet  bends, 
To  feed  with  tish  s(.'me  hungry  wretches. 

Xo  Heliconian  streams  distil 

To  give  our  ])oets  inspiration. 
But  whisky  plenty  from  the  still 

Seus  all  their  brains  in  f('rmeutati'.)n. 


■j:i4  iiisroh'Y  OF  \y/:sTr(nrr 

No  Delpbii,'  oivi-lo  is  hvvt\ 

CoD^)Uudio^^  ti'iith  witli  nuuiy  ii  UbiA. 
But  a  plaira  flei'j^ymaii  .•siuerre. 

Our  ouly  oracie  the  IJibU-. 

This  must  liave  Wx-'U  EKlor  Daniel  Hascall,  a  i^iadu- 
ate  of  Middlc^luu-y  colli'.i^e,  wljo  preaclied  in  the  clmrch 
at  Pleasant  Valloy  fr.im  1808  to  LSio.  Ray  laughs  at 
the  local  dij^uitaiies,  "Jud^'es  and  Generals,  all  '^I'eat 
u]eij>"  and  adds, 

Here's  lawyers  most  confouDdtnl  '.vise, 

Pbysieiaus  also  very  plfuty, 
One  scarcely  could  believe  his  eyes 

To  find  a  ^{ood  one  out  of  twenty. 

The  nnml)er  is  evidently  chosen  to  savo  the  rhyme, 
as  there  were  in  all  pi'ohahilitv  no  more  than  two  doc- 
tors in  the  township  at  this  time,  at  least  as  permanent 
residents. 

One  copy  of  Ray's  newspaper  is  still  })rcsorved  in 
Elizabethtown,  showing'  it  to  have  been  a  very  credita- 
ble pr<-)duction  for  the  place  and  the  time.  Surely  it 
must  have  received  a  welcome,  at  a  time  when  n.ew> 
was  so  eagerly  looL'ed  for.  And  still  no  newspaper  a*^ 
that  period  ever  forestalled  the  intellij2;ence  that  came 
by  moans  of  piivate  letters  or  by  word  of  mouth.  In 
those  duys  if  a  friend  left  in  one  of  the  ohler  state-.- 
wrote  to  any  one  in  the  new  settlement  of  Elizabeth- 
town,  his  letter  was  mainly  occupied  with  pnblic  atl'aii-. 
elections,  the  proceedin^j^s  of  Con;.^ress,  news  received 
from  over-seas  by  sailin;^  vessels,  while  information  in 
regard  to  family  matters  would  be  left  to  be  crowded  in 
at  the  b-^toui  of  the   last    paL.^\       Indeed,    these   Ictt.'i- 


I!  J  STORY  OF  WKSTl'Oirr  2.V/) 

ofteu  foimd  tlieiv  way  into  the  local  newspaper  aiul  no 
one  considered  details  of  things  ^yhicll  happened  a 
month  ago  as  at  all  out  of  place.  No  telegra^^h,  no 
railroad,  not  even  the  stage-coach  had  yet  penetrated 
<.ur  woods,  and  all  communication  with  the  outside 
world  was  kept  up  by  the  man  on  horseback.  Letter 
postage  was  high,  sis  cents  for  every  thirty  miles  atone 
time,  and  ordinary  people  never  expected  more  than 
one  or  two  letters  a  year,  which  were  as  likely  to  come 
by  the  hand  of  some  travelling  friend  as  by  the  post- 
rider.  Letters  of  the  period  are  commonly  endorsed 
at  the  bottom,  "By  the  politeness  of  Mr.  Blank,"  who 
carries  the  letter,  maybe  a  long  distance,  as  a  friendly 
ofHce,  knowing  that  he  may  require  the  same  accom- 
modation in  his  turn. 

As  a  com})eusation  for  the  slowness  and  dithculty  of 
communication  between  distant  parts,  we  must  con- 
sider that  in  those  days  news  by  word  of  mouth  was 
tiiuch  more  reliable  than  it  is  now,  and  depended  upon 
much  ujore  extensively.  Then,  if  a  man  heard  a  bit  of 
news  from  a  stranger  whom  he  met  at  a  ford  in  the 
forest,  or  at  the  door  of  an  inn,  he  listened  with  the 
cl(»sest  attention,  learned  it  by  heart,  and  then  set  otT 
as  a  matter  of  course  to  repeat  it  to  his  next  door 
neighbor,  who  received  it  and  repeated  it  in  his  turn. 
In  this  w;iy  intelligence  of  wars  and  of  Indian  uprisings 
often  travelled  with  incredible  swiftness  and  aecurai-y, 
and  in  this  wav,  and  for  this  reason,  the  American 
b.ickwoodsman  came  to  be  considered  the  embodiujent 
of  inquisitiveness.  Living  a  narrow  and  ujouotouc)US  life, 


i^.>v;  HISTORY  OF  WKsrroirr 

liis  natmal  ii)tol]i^.Mi',-e  heiijij;  ileuid]  its  pi'Djier  aii^l 
rightful  iDaiisijiueiit,  ;it  the  s)<.;ht  nf  ;i  str;U)ii;cr  frotn 
the  ()usi(.le  WDi-kl  h»)  U'W  upon  liiui  as  one  fauiishel  for 
iiiforrnation.  This  is  one  reason  why  the  itiueraut 
jH'eacher  was  always  welcouie,  aiul  why  he  iiii;j;ht  choose 
iiis  liust  out  of  Jiis  cou^reii;atii)ii.  The  famil\'  with 
whom  the  preachnr  sojourned  were  sure  to  hear  uianv  1 
iufeiestin.L;  things  before  li»'  went  awav,  atul  were  en-  | 
vied  accordingly.  Tiiis  is  one  reason,  too,  wh3^so  niany  | 
of  the  early  settlers  are  nientioneil  as  having  "kept  an  | 
inn."  Any  <ine  with  a  house  lai'ge  enough  to  contain  \ 
a  sj)are  room,  and  a  barn  that  would  hoM  an  extra  ] 
horse,  was  glad  to  take  a  stranger  in,  not  only  for  the  i 
meiuev  for  his  lodging,  l)ut  for  the  pleasure  that  thr*  i 
dullest  story-teller  could  give  in  relating  incidents  of  j 
his  journey,  with  the  hints  which  he  had  pickeil  up  of 
the  doings  of  the  great,  far  away  world. 

Thus  the  UrvrlUc  was  sure  of  an  ai)pfeciative  public, 
though  perhap.s  of  u<)  great  number  of  wealthy  patrons. 
Its  politics  weic  strongly  Republican,  that  is,  Anti- 
Federalist,  supportin;^  the  administration  of  ^tladis.^n 
and  declaring  in  favor  of  the  war.  The  tone  of  th'- 
])at»er  may  be  taken  as  an  indication  of  the  prevailing 
st-utiment  in  regard  to  these  thin^^s  at  the  C(juuty  seat. 
We  tind  fr<jm  tlu^  letters  of  William  Kay  to  the  Gov- 
ernor that  Joseph  Jenks  was  an  earnest  Republican, 
while  Coh.nel  Ransom  Noble  of  Essex  is  re- 
ferred to  by  him  as  "a  bitter  ^'uemv  of  the  piest  nt 
administration."  However,  after  war  had  been  actually 
declared,  and  the  militi;'  called  out    f.-r    the    defenc-    '>f 


7/ IS  TO  in'  OF  WSi:TPi)RT  2:^7 

the  froutier,  there  was  no  diffureuce  o])served  upon  tlte 
battle  field  between  Federalist  and  Eepnblicau,  and  it 
>een)S  to  be  trne  that  the  western  shore  stood  as  a  unit, 
♦  iitirely  divided  from  that  New  Euf,dand  sentimeut 
wh.ich  led  to  the  proceedings  of  the  Hartford  Conven- 
tion. 

When  each  number  of  the  Reveille  was  printed,  tlie 
copies  were  distributed  to  the  subscribers  by  private 
carriers.  Those  for  distant  patrons,  like  General 
Wright,  or  Charles  Hatch,  Esq.,,  were  packed  into  sad- 
dle-bags and  carried  on  horse-back. 

The  touuship  iu  which  William  Kay  published  the 
Ui-veUle  had  a  population  of  1362,  of  which  741  were 
niales.  Projioty  was  assessed  at  $108,450.  There 
were  four  grist  anils,  seven  saw  mills,  four  forges,  a 
carding  machine  and  a  distillery.  The  distillery  was 
situated  at  Pleasant  Valley,  but  a  good  proportion  of 
the  mills  and  forges  must  have  stood  upon  the  present 
territory  of  West[)ort,  as  we  know  that  there  were  Bra- 
uian's  Mills  at  the  falls  of  the  Boquet,  Coil's  Mills  on 
luiymond  brook,  one  or  two  on  Mill  brook,  and  a  num- 
ber of  mills  and  forges  on  our  side  of  the  Black  river. 
The  settlement  at  Northwest  Bay  when  AVilliam  Bay 
first  saw  it  nuuibered  ftb(~)ut  twenty  l)uildings,  houses, 
mills  and  stores,  the  greater  {tart  of  which  lay  on  the 
south  side  of  Mill  brook.  To  this  size  the  place  had 
<,'rown  in  ten  years'  time,  and  such  was  its  importance 
during  tlie  warof  1ST2.  Its  real  significance  isbetterun- 
dfiNtood  by  a  kuowledu'e  of  the  coumiercial  condition  of 
the  tJieat  v.illev  in  wliieii  the  little  han)let  lav.      At    the 


2 IS'  lusTouY  OF  wi:srr()iiT 

Custom  House,  tlu-  value  of  <'xports  from  the  District 
of  Chau-i])l:iiu  for  tlie  two  mmitlis  of  M;iv  ami  June. 
1811,  (as  ^'iveu  in  tiie  P/(>ffsh>(r,jh  Jltju/hHrrf,,  f,,i- 
Maroh  31,  1000,)  was  s20r),914.  These  exports  consist^.] 
maiuly  of  ]>ork,  eider,  eoi-u,  butter,  lavd,  oandlos, 
leather,  potasli  and  soao,  all  carrioil  ou  sailing  vessels, 
bateaux  and  rafts.  There  were  also  quantities  of  tea, 
tobacc(-),  and  some  manufactni-t'd  goods  whieli  were 
making  tlie  long  journey  from  New  York  or  Albany  to 
Canada,  and  we  must  remetnbar  that  this  gives  uo  ac- 
count of  smuggled  gooils.  During  these  two  mouths 
forty-three  rafts  were  c-leared,  containing  over  a  million 
cubic  feet  of  pine  timber,  principally  Norway,  besiiles 
oak  timber,  spars,  staves,  ash  o,us  and  walnut  hand- 
spikes. One  of  th<\se  I'afts,  valued  at  $2, GOO,  was  sent 
out  by  Diadorus  Hoh-cnnb,  and  we  know  at  this  time 
Gen.  Daniel  Wright  sent  rafts  to  Canada  every  suinmer. 
Those  were  the  days  \\  lieji  notln'ng  miu-e  wonderful  or 
adventurous  could  liai^pcn  to  any  hny  thin  being  al- 
lowed to  go  to  ();i.  d)ce  on  one  of  these  rifts,  carrying 
with  him  the  s!v  ins  .;f  the  wild  animals  which  he  and 
his  brothers  had  trapped  and  shot  the  winter  before. 

And  so  we  can  see  it  all,  the  township  covered  with 
tlie  dark  forest,  and  here  and  theie  all  over  it,  except 
upon  steep  si'les  of  the  mountains,  log  cabins  staml- 
ing  each  .-ne  scditarv  in  its  own  clearing,  and  the 
clearings  comteet^'d  bv  rough  trails.  On  the  lake  sliore 
two  clusters  of  small  low  houses  in  the  bays,  with  the 
cluujsy  ferrv  boat  moore.l  to  its  nule  wharf  at  the  point. 
Everywh.-r.'  th.'  rin- of  ,i\evs  and    the    crash    of   fallin- 


IIISTORV  OF   W'L'SrrOh'T  239 

tirt's,  sail  boats  always  coiaJiiL';  and  goinp;,  the  cuh-liuk 
with  far  away  \vorkls,  and  tlieu  tlie  winter  drift  wliito 
«)Vt'r  all,  even  the  frozen  lake. 


240  iiisTOiiv  OF  WF.srrujn' 

VII. 
War  pi'  18 IQ. 

AiK.l  LOW  upon  this  quiet  scene  falls  a  slowly  cleei'etj- 
iug  shallow  of  war.  8io;ns  of  the  second  struggle  for 
inclepenilence  were  seen  as  early  upon  the  Champlain 
frontier  as  in  any  part  of  the  country.  First  came  the 
Embargo  of  1807,  instantly  defied  by  open  and  delib- 
erate smuggling  across  the  Cauaila  line,  accompanied 
by  majiy  acts  of  lawlessness  and  violence.  This  is  the 
most  romantic  period  in  all  our  history  as  a  town,  the 
})eriod  in  which  the  most  stirring  incidents  of  the  latest 
novel  of  adventure  might  easily  have  happened.  Smug- 
glers, pirates,  revenue  otiicers,  .secret  hiding  places  on 
lonely  shores,  costly  njerchandise  loaded  by  nigljt  t;n 
pack  horsc^s  which  were  led  by  dangerous  paths  over 
the  mountains  into  the  interior,  foreign  emissaries  close 
at  hand,  tempting  loyalty  with  foreign  gold,  duelling 
still  practiced  among  honorable  gentlemen, — this  was 
the  background  against  which  our  ancestors  moved. 
Scott's  "Guy  Manneriug"  was  not  written  then,  but  ht^' 
might  have  laid  the  scene  of  the  story  on  Lake  Chauj- 
plaiu  with  no  loss  of  coloring.  The  buy  who  gives 
himself  up  to  the  spell  of  the  Wizard  of  the  North,  and 
reads,  em:hauted, — 

"Even  at  this  dead  h(nir  of  night  there  were  lights 
moving  upon  the  shore,  probably  occasioned  by  the 
unloading  a  smuggling  lugger  from  the  Isle  of  Man, 
which  was  lying  in  the  bay.  On  the  light  from  the 
sashed  door  of  the  house  being  observed,  a  hollo  from 
the  vessfi  of  'Ware    hawk  1  Dou.se   the   glim  !'    alt^rmed 


Jf/STOA'V  OF  ]V  EST  PORT  211 

those  wjio  were  ou  shore,  rtiid  the  h'ghts  iustaut!}-  dis- 
;i})pcared,"  etc.,— uever  thiuks,  perhaps,  that  it  all 
might  have  been  written  about  Northwest  Bay,  ouly 
chaugiug  the  "lugger  from  the  Isle  of  Mau"  into  a  sloop 
from  Canada,  and  translating  the  warning  words  into 
Cauadiau  patois  or  Yankee  dialect.  Scott's  Dutch 
skipper  is  Dirck  Hatteraick,  but  surely  we  could  match 
that  name— what  do  you  think  of  Teuuis  Van  Yiiet '? — 
and  his  vessel  is  the  Yungframo  Harjenslaapen,  but  that 
is  not  half  so  shuddery  and  piratical  as  the  Black  S»cd-e, 
which  was  the  actual  name  of  a  smuggling  craft  on 
Lake  Champlain  in  1808.  True  stories  are  told  of  plots 
to  kidnap  revenue  officers,  and  of  rafts  of  lumber  which 
went  into  Canada  carrying  armed  men,  behind  bul- 
warks of  logs,  who  defied  the  officers  to  oppose  their 
passage  across  the  line.  Smuggled  liquor  and 
salt  were  seen  in  evtn'v  country  tavern  and  store,  and 
we  have  no  reason  to  believe  that  our  town  was  sig- 
nalized by  any  excess  of  virtue  in  the  matter  of  cus- 
toms duties. 

This  state  of  things,  together  with  the  fact  that  in 
the  event  of  war  the  northern  frontier  was  the  natural 
avenue  of  invasion  for  a  Britit-li  army,  made  imperative 
the  action  of  government  in  sending  Lieut.  Melancthon 
Taylor  Woolsey,*  U.  S.  N.,  (about  1809,   according  to 

*  The  author  has  had  to  de.il  wiih  no  less  than  seven  Melani.thons — four  of  them 
WooUeys  and  three  of  thtriii  Sniiihs.  There  was  a  Melancthon  Taylor  Woolsey 
who  was  an  officer  in  the  old  French  war.  His  son.  Gen.  Mclanclhon  Lloyd 
Woolsev,  owned  one  of  our  original  oalents.  The  son  ol  the  latter,  named  after 
his  irra.^dfiihcr,  was  Lieut.  .M.  T.  Woolsey,  U.  S.  N^.,  and  a  fourth  of  the  same 
f.iinilv,  MtUncthon  Brooks  Wo^lscy.  whs  in  the  na%v  during:  the  Civil  War.  Then 
as  for  the  Smiths,  the  first  w.is  Judjjc    .Mc!:incthon   Smilli    of    the    Revolutionary 


j7i>  jfisTORY  or  WESrrORT 

Palmer,)  to  build  two  gunboats  for  the  defence  of  the 
lake.  Lieut.  "Woolscy  was  the  son  of  that  Mehinctliou 
Llo3d  Woolsey  who.se  narue  appears  upon  our  old  njap 
as  owner  of  one  of  our  original  patents,  and  who  was 
called  Gen.  Woolsey  from  his  soi'vice  iu  this  war.  The 
gunboats  were  built  at  Basin  Harbor,  where  was  a 
well-tatted  shii)-jard,  perfectly  sheltered  in,  the  little 
circular  "bay,  witli  its  narrow  entrance  between  high 
rocks..  We  know  that  part  of  the  niachitiery  in  this 
ship-yard  belonged  to  government  from  the  report  of 
the  Commissary  of  Military  Stores  of  180-1,  which  men- 
tions "one  pair  iron  gin  blocks,  brass  sheaves,  found  at 
Basin  Harbour  iu  Vermont  in  possession  of  Mr.  Rog- 
ers." Then  the  nest  year's  report  mentions  "two  Ircm 
Jack  screws  iu  possession  of  the  assignees  v)f  Piatt  Eog- 
ers  ou  Lake  Champlain."  The  gunboats  were  large, 
lieav\-,  open  scows,  of  probal)]y  no  more  than  40  tons, 
mounting  each  one  gun.  Ijieut.  Woolsey's  service 
throughout  the  war  was  ui)0u  Lake  Ontario,  and  iu 
]Srar<di  of  1810  Lieut.  Smith  was  placed  in  command 
of  Lake  Chami>lain.  Lieut.  Smith  was  also  the  son  of 
a  proprietor  of  land  in  Skene's  Patent,  his  father  being 
Judge  Melancton  Smith.  He  was  a  naval  officer  of 
ex])erience,  having    been    5th    lieutenant    on  board  the 


times,  one  of  ihe  ablest  supfjoiters  of  Gov.  Clinton  in  his  opposition  to  Hamilton 
and  the  Federil  CTonstitution.  In  "The  Conqueror,"  by  Gertrude  Atl.erton,  he  is 
presented  as  the  speaker  most  directly  pitted  against  Hamilton  himself  at  the  ratt- 
t'caiion  convention  at  Poiighkeepsie;  "a  clever  and  eloquen:  orator— generous  and 
manly  enoujfh  to  adiiiil  hi:nse!f  beaten."  One  of  his  sons  was  Col.  ^fela^cthon 
Smith  of  the  Zijth  ri.  ijiincnt,  U.  S.  A.,  who  had  a  son  of  the  same  name  who  came 
to  be  H  Rear  AJnurul,  (.'.  S.  .N'.  Whe'-her  the  melancholy  soq'.icr.ce  could  be  fol- 
lowed farther,  I  ear'nol  tcli. 


nisrijiiY  OF  wKsrroRT 


243 


unfortunate  Chvsaptohe  at  the  time  of  her  suirouder  to 
the  Biitish  frinjate  Leopanl,  and  si-ui]ig,  with  the  other 
otlicers,  fcjie  letter  which  preferred  cliarges  against  Cotn- 
moJore  Barrou.  He  also  made  headquarters  at  Basiu 
Harbor,  and  there  built  two  sloops,  the  Gvoichr  ,xn(}i  the 
K<>[lh\  eacli  carryin.^  eleven  gnn-^,  and  four  more  gun- 
boats. This  squadron  when  completed  held  al)S(riute 
i-ontrol  of  the  lake. 

Now  all  this  building  and  fittin-  out  of  war  vessels 
cannot  have  gone  on  without  appreciable  effect  upon 
the  opposite  shore.  No  lad  of  spirit  can  have  failed  to 
row  across  the  lake  and  look  upon  the  work  of  the  ship- 
wrights and  sailors  from  the  seaboard,  while  it  was  a 
commercial  godsend  t<.  all  the  coast.  Nothing  is  more 
likely  than  that  tin.bers  failed  upon  our  soil  went  into 
the  construction  of  this  tl,.et,^^  as  well  as  into  Macdon- 
ough's,  and  the  naval  officers  came  often  to  the  inn  at 
Northwest  Bay.  One  man  of  undoubted  military  im- 
portance in  our  town  at  this  tinio  was  Brigadier-Gen- 
eral DanielAViight,  commander  of  all  the  militia  forces 
^■f  the  three  northeim   coumties,   receiving  his   appoint- 

*Arnold-s  fleet  of  .775  also  carried  U.nb.rslurii^oTouT^o^I^Am^idTt^r 
imcntalrncmorandam  book,  written  at  Ti  and  Crown  Point  fro:.  May  ,0  to  June 
»4.  (printed  ,n  the  Pennsylvania  Magazine  of  History  and  B.o.raphy.  Vol  ^Z\ 
re  n,ent.o„s  sending  boats  to  Rayn^ond's  M:.ls  five  different  tinges,  three  ■u:;es  fo 
boards  for  rep.ur,.^  B.rracUs."  ouce  f,.r  "Ash  for  Oars  and  Trough,  for 
Guns  and  once  he  writes.  "Sent  to  R.v.ondS  Mills  for  Timber  and  provison 
for  Sk,ne's  Negroes  '■  One  day  he  writes:  -Senta  Boat  with  Skens  NeJo  Ho 
d.;<  ore.  presumably  from  Skene's  ore  bed  just  below  Crown  Point  where  the 
negroes  were  accustomed  to  d,^  itcut  and  load  .t  on  boats  to  be  sent  lo  the  fort 
t  Skenesboro.  In  one  of  Arnold's  letter,  to  Congress  that  summer  he  s  .  Z 
he  can  get.ro,  from  Skenesboro.  The  writer  rcg.ets  not  having  seen  th.s  reg - 
n,emtal  memorandum  book  .n  Ume  for  fuller  u.e  in  this  historv 


•244 


lIltiTOllY  OF  WKSTVOUT 


ment  for  tri«l  .nili,,.,,.  o„.olleoco.     Ho  was  three  veu-s 
It.  the  Eev„l„tion,  fighti„g  at  Bunker  Hill  nn,l  „t  Sara- 
toga; and  had  come  into  fe.e.  county  with  the  rank  of 
Lieutenant  iu  a  Kew  Hampshire  regiment.*  Soon  after 
his  arrival,     he    was    commissioned    2nd     Major    of 
a    regiment    "wliereof    Joseph     Sheldon    is     Lf     Col 
Commandant.'- then   made  1st  Major,   then   given  the 
command  of  the  regiment,  and  Feb.  11,  1811  was  made 
Brigadier-General  of  the  Militia  of  Essex.  Clinton  and 
rranklm  counties.     He   was   often    seen    riding  down 
from  Ins  mountain  farm  to  Xorthwest  liav.  a  taU   erect 
gray-haired  man  of  fift.y-six.  said  to  have  "made  a  mosi 
.niposing  figure  on  horsel>ack  when  in  his  uniform.  He 
watched  the  naval  preparations  of  Lieut.  Smith  with  the 
deepest  interest,  and  when  the  two  men  ean.e  together 
as  they  sometimes  must,  at  the  inn  of  John  Halstead' 
sitting  of  an  evening  in  the  bar-room  perhaps,  with  thJ 
^  Uage  worthies  hstenin;,  ,o  iheii  conversation,  the  talk 
of  a  man  who  had  served  under  John  Stark,   and  had 
.een  the  army  of   li„rgoy„„  advance   unopposed   the 
-tole  length  of  the  lake,  with  that  of  another  who  had 
.een  the  height  of  British  aggression   in   the  matter  of 
impressment  of  American  seamen   in   his  service  upon 
the  6/„*,/,c„fc  and  the  /(>«/,.  may  well  have   been  en- 
tertaiuiug. 

War  was  declared  at  Washington  June  IS,  181'>    and 
Geu._«j.g|u  got  tl^ji^ews  the  -i'lth^eceiving  his  o'rdeis 


from  Major  Geiieral  Mooers  t)n  tliat  day.  A  fow  days 
later  caiue  onleis  direct  from  Gov.  Tompkins,  which  we 
tiud  iij  the-Tompkius  Papers,  pa^je  3G0,  as  follows  : 

Albany,  Juuo  27,  1S12. 
Sut  :— The  detach meut  (^f  militia  from  your  brigade 
is  hei-eby  ordered  into  service.  The  detaclimeut  from 
tlie  Essex  regiments  will  rendezvous  at  such  times  and 
places  as  you  may  appoint.  Such  of  them  as  can  con- 
veniently jissemble  at  Elizabethtown,  and  may  not  be 
armed,  will  arm  and  equip  themselves  from  the  Arsenal 
at  that  ]>lace.  They  must  supply  themselves  invaria- 
bly with  blankets  and  with  kna]isacks  if  they  have  them. 
Such  equipments  as  they  may  possess  will  be  taken 
with  them,  and  if  defective,  they  will  be  exchanged  at 
the  public  arsenals.  The  contingent  expenses  of  traus- 
jiorting  the  detachment  from  Essex  to  Plattsburgh  will 
be  defrayed  by  the  bearer.  Capt.  Campbell,  with  whom 
you  will  please  to  make  the  necessary  arrangements  for 
that  purpose.  Major  Noble  will  take  the  command  of 
the  detachment,  and  Dean  Edsou,  who  is  assigued  as 
brigade  quarter  master,  will  also  accompany  the  de- 
tachment to  Plattsburgh.  Major  Noble  will  report  him- 
.self  on  his  arrival  to  Major  General  Mooers  and  receive 
his  orders,  Brigade  (Quarter  Master  Edson  will  wait  at 
Plattsburgh  tlie  arrival  of  instructions  of  Brigadier 
Gen.  Micajah  Pettit,  of  Washington  county.  The  de- 
tachment from  Clinton  will  rendezvous  at  Plattsburgh, 
and  that  from  Frankh'n  will  rendezvous  and  remain  at 
Maloue,  in  said  county,  until  orders  shall  be  received 
from     Major    Cbn.    Mowers.       The    flattering   accounts 


246  HIsrORY  OF  WKSTPO]!? 

which  I  have  received  of  vour  military  talents  and  of 
your  active  and  zealous  patriotism  makes  me  rely  v.-ith 
coufidence  upon  the  earliest  possible  fulGllment  of  this 
order.     I  am,  Sir,  respectfully  your  ob't  servant, 

Daniel  D.  ToMrKiNs. 
Brigadier  General,  Daniel  Wright.* 

The  "arsenal  at  Elizabethtowu"  had  been  i)uilt  vsithiu 
the  year,  at  Pleasant  Valley,  upon  the  line  of  the  new 
state  road  which  there  followed  the  valley  of  the  Bo- 
quet.  The  final  rendezvous  of  the  troops  was  at  Wills- 
boro,  as  we  learn  from  brigade  orders  sent  to  Major 
Ransom  Noble  July  4. 

And  so  the  war  began.     And  as  the  message  flew  by  a 

•Soon  afterward  the  General's  quill  pen  v/rote  his  first  report  to  the  Com.iiander 
ia  Chief. 

EnzABrrKTOwN,July  ii,  iSi3. 

Sir  :— I  receiyed  your  Excellency's  order  of  tlie  27th  of  June  on  the  sth  inst., 
directing  me  to  direct  the  militia  detached  from  the  E--sex  regiments  to  march  to 
Plattsburgh.  1  sut>eied  no  delay.  1  iniiutdiatcly  informed  Major  Noble  that  he 
WAS  to  march  with  thf  troops  to  Plaltsburyh.  He  cheerfully  received  the  order 
and  proceeded  on  his  way  with  his  mea  on  the  third  day  after  I  received  your  Ex  - 
celler.cy's  order. 

I  likewise  informed  Brigade  Quarter  Master  Edson  that  he  was  to  repair  with 
the  troops,  which  order  he  obeyed.  Your  Excellency  may  rest  assured  that  all 
and  every  order  within  my  power  will  be  strictly  and  punctually  attended  to. 

Suffer  me  to  inform  your  Excellency  that  I  have  been  flattering  myself  that  there 
would  some  opportunity  piesent  to  view  that  I  could  serve  my  country  in  some 
post  of  office  that  I  could  be  of  service  to  my  country  and  receive  some  emolu- 
ments to  myself,  as  I  am  not  a  man  of  foitune.  I  was  three  years  in  the  late 
American  Revolution,  and  have  held  seven  diffcrtnt  mihtary  commissions  in  tlie 
militia  and  have  been  doing  duty  for  twenty-eight  years  past,  to  the  present  mo- 
ment. 

Should  your  Excellency  think  proper  to  rerriember  me,  I  should  gratefully  ac- 
knowledge your  Excellency's  favor. 

I  am,  sir,  with  the  highest  respect,  your  Ob't  Scrv't, 

DANIEL  WKlGilT,   B.  G. 
To  His  Excellency,  Daniel  D.  Tompkins. 

Vol.  VU.  page  4oi,  Toi:ipkins,  MSb.,  Stite  Library. 


///sTO/n'  OF  Mi:sT]'(}irr  247 

wifeless  tolej^rapliy  from  door  to  door  throu^diout  the 
towuslii]),  "War  is  dechired  !  the  gov(>,rnor  lias  or- 
dered out  the  iuilitia!"  the  answering  thought  in  every 
hearc  was  "Indians  !"  From  this  terror  the  frontiers- 
man was  never  freed  until  aftei-  this  war,  in  which  the 
savages  were  em})loyed  hy  the  British  in  many  engage- 
lueDts.  In  the  ilispatches  which  Gov.  Tompkins  sent 
out,  ordering  the  militia  <_;t'  nortlieru  New  York  to  the 
front,  he  said,  "I  trust  that  wLen  you  reflect  upon  the 
indispensable  nature  of  the  service  upon  which  the  de- 
tachment is  destined,  the  protection  of  our  frontier 
brethren,  their  wives  and  children,  from  massacre  bv 
savages,  you  and  every  other  otHcer  and  good  citizen 
will  join  heart  and  hand  in  forwarding  ihe  execution  of 
this  reciui.sition." 

Writing  to  Geu.  Dearborn,  he  says  :  "The  recruits  at 
Plattsburgh  are  v.itliin  fifty  miles  of  two  ti-ibes  of  Ca- 
nadian Indians.  In  case  of  an  attack  upon  the  fron- 
tiers, that  portion  of  the  United  States  Army  would  be 
as  inetiicient  and  as  unable  to  defend  the  inhabitants  or 
themselves  even  as  so  many  wiMiien."  ^Villiam  liav, 
writing  one  of  his  innumerable  letters  to  the  Governor, 
says:  "Many  people  here  are  much  alarmed  at  the  un- 
armed situation  of  our  militia  on  account  of  the  hostility 
of  the  Indians." 

The  frontier  post  was  not  now  at  Crown  Point,  as  in 
the  Revolution,  but  at  Plattsburgh,  and  to  that  place 
cavalry,  infantry  and  artillery  were  instantly  ordered. 
(Jannon,  ammunition,  muskets,  tents,  pails,  camp  ket- 
tles, knaps.ieks,  all  the  niunitions  of  war  came  down  the 


24S  HISTORY  OF  M'ESTPORr 

lake,  or  along  the  eastern  shore.  Later  m  the  war  the 
maiu  thoroughfare  was  by  the  state  road  through 
Schroon.  June  26  the  Governor  wrote  from  Albany  to 
Maj.  John  Mills,  Washington  county  :  "You  will  pro- 
ceed with  the  military  stores  and  articles  direct  to 
Whitehall  on  Lake  Champlain,  from  whence  you  will 
transport  them,  together  with  the  cannon  ball  belong- 
ing to  the  State,  lying  at  Whitehall,  to  Plattsburgh  and 
Essex  arsenals.  If  an  immediate  conveyance  by  water 
cannot  be  obtained,  you  will  proceed  b}'  laud  with  the 
articles  for  Plattsburgh  through  Vermont  to  Burling- 
ton, and  from  thence  send  for  Gun  Boats  and  other  ves- 
sels from  Plattsburgh,  or  employ,  them  at  Burlington, 
to  transport  the  articles  to  Plattsburgh,  and  from  the 
proper  point  on  Vermont  shore  send  across  those  for 
Elizabethtowu,  Essex  county."  The  "proper  point  on 
Vermont  shore"  must  have  been  Basin  Harbor,  and 
every  boat  with  an  oar  or  sail  in  Northwest  Bay  must 
have  been  requisitioned  for  the  transportation  of  this 
warlike  freight.  It  is  believed  that  our  first  wharf  was 
built  during  this  Mar,  an(l  it  is  probable  that  its  neces- 
sity was  first  felt  for  unloading  supplies  for  the  Ar- 
senal at  Pleasant  Valley.  Once  on  shore,  the  stores 
were  put  into  carts  and  dragged  over  the  rough  mount- 
ain road  to  Pleasant  Valley,  crossing  the  Black  at  Mor- 
gan's Forge,  now  Meigsville,  as  the  present  turnpike 
route  then  la}-  through  undrained  swamps. 

Gen.  Wright's  brigade,  the  -lOth,  was  then  composed 
of  four  regiments,  drawn  from  a  large  extent  of  thinly 
settled  countrv.     There  was   the    GGth,   Lt.-CoL    Alrij 


iiiSTOh'Y  OF  wKsrroin'  249 

M.iiiLi,  the  HGth,  Lt.-Col.  TIios.  Miller,  the  Otli,  Lt.-Col. 
l'!ij:iii  ]^»;irnes,  and  the  37th,  Rausoni  Noble  Major 
Coiiunandant.  In  tlie  37tli  were  most,  if  not  all,  of  the 
nu-n  of  our  town.  .     .  ,       , 

It  is  of  course  understood  tliat  although  every  able- 
Itodied  male  citizen  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and 
forty-flve  (with  certain  exceptions,  like  judges,  mail  car- 
riers, postmasters,  etc.,)  was  at  all  times  subject  to  mil- 
itary duty,  still  each  brigade  had  its  quota,  that  of  the 
4()th  being  300,  and  as  naturally  only  the  more  willing 
ones  were  first  enrolled,  it  was  practically  a  volunteer 
ser\ice.  There  were  no  more  than  150  men  on  our  side 
of  the  Black  river  subject  to  militia  duty,  and  of  these 
not  more  than  fifty,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  learn, 
were  actually  under  military  orders  during  the  war. 
These,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  among  the  older 
men  who  had  seen  service  iti  the  devolution,  were  raw 
backwoodsmen,  totally  inexperienced  in  war,  but  nev- 
ertheless well  able  to  handle  the  muskets  which  hung 
over  every  fireplace.  The  forest  was  fur  from  no 
mim's  door,  and  wolf  or  panther  might  be  seen  any  dav; 
therefore  a  boy  could  hardly  grow  up  without  learning 
to  shoot,  even  thougii  the  New  England  training  days 
au  1  musters  may  have  beeu  little  observed  in  the  settle- 
ment of  the  new  town.  Our  military  organization  seem? 
to  fall  into  two  companies  couimandeJ  by  Ca]"»t.  Levi 
Frisbie  and  C'a}»t.  Jesse  Bra  man,  and  a  ciivalry 
<-(»m])any  commaiuhMl  by  Capt.  John  Lobdell.  There 
vere  four  dillVrent  calls  to  service  in  the  field  during 
}\ut  rwoyf.-ai>,  of  the  wnr  (the  lir.st    for   .six  months,  the 


2o0  HIHTORY  OF  WESTPORT 

others  for  a  few  days  each)  to  which  some  of  our  militia 
men  respondeil. 

Sept.  12,  1812,  Lieut.  Thomas  Macdouough  wasgiveii 
command  of  the  lake,  and  shortly  afterward  arrived  at 
his  post,  as  he  tells  in  tlieso  words :  *'Aftor  remaining 
a  few  months  in  Portland  J  was  ordered  by  Mr.  Madi- 
son to  take  eoi^mand  of  the  vessels  in  Lako  Champlaiu. 
Proceeded  thither  across  the  country  tlnough  the 
Notch  of  tho  White  Moi\ntains,  partly  on  horseback, 
carrj'ing  my  bundle  with  my  valise  on  behind,  and  a 
country  lad  oul}'  in  company  to  return  with  my  horses. 
Arrived  fatigued  at  Burlington  on  the  lake, in  aljout  four 
days,  and  took  command  of  the  vessels."  Macdouough 
was  then  twenty-nine  years  old,  and  had  been  in  the 
navy  since  he  was  seventeen,  leading  a  life  full  of  ex- 
citement jvnd  adventure  in  the  West  Indies  and  upon 
the  Mediterranean.  He  remained  upon  the  lake  until 
winter  closed  in,  and  then  wont  to  Middletown,  Conn., 
where  he  v,'as  married  the  first  of  December,  and  whero 
he  stayed  until  the  opening  of  navigation  in  the  spriug. 
His  task  was  the  same  as  that  of  Arnold  in  1775,— if  he 
had  a  navy  he  mu.st  build  it  himself.  Carefully  he  had 
chosen  the  place  for  his  navy  yard.  Op})osite  the  stt^ep 
clitl's  (if  the  S[)lit  rook  rauge„a  little  north  of  the  Nar- 
rows, Utter  Creek  tiows  into  the  lake  on  the  eastern 
side,  a  deep,  smooth  tlowiug  stream,  passing  through 
level  farm  lauds  with  many  a  wind  and  turn.  About 
four  miles  froui  its  mouth,  at  a  place  called  the  "P>ut-. 
tonwoods,"  Macdon(^ugh  built  his  ships.  The  place 
was  easilv  accessible  f(.^r  stores  brought  ti'oni  the  south 


HISTORY  OF  WESTJ'ORT  -J.U 

1)V  laud  or  water,  and  safe  from  attack  to  a  degree 
which  no  harbor  on  the  lake  shore  conld  afl'ord.  The 
place  was  but  ten  miles  from  Northwest  Bay  by  water, 
somewhat  less  if  one  lauded  at  Basin  Harbor  and  went 
the  rest  of  the  way  overland,  and  the  scene  there  was 
one  well  worth  the  journey.  Says  llobinson,  in  his 
"Vermont,"  "a  throng  of  ship  carpenters  were  busy  on 
the  narrow  flat.br  the  waterside  ;  the  woods  were  noisy 
with  the  thud  of  axes,  the  crash  of  falling  trees,  and  the 
liawling  of  teamsters;  and  the  two  furnaces  were  in  full 
blast  casting  cannon  shot  for  the  fleet."  The  high 
fiaujework  of  gin  and  derrick  replaced  the  trunks  of 
ancient  trees,  with  dangling  ropes  and  blocks  for  foliage, 
and  the  picturesque  unifornjs  of  the  naval  officers  gave 
it  all  a  character  unlike  anything  seen  before  or  since 
u{)on  our  shores.  Perhaps  William  Ray,  if  he  had  not 
already  diifted  awny  from  Pleasant  Valley  on  the  cur- 
rent of  his  waiidering  life,  came  out  and  crossed  the. 
lake,  aud  looked  upon  the  busy  scenes  with  keen  and 
understanding  vision.  He  had  hist  seen  Lieut.  Mac- 
douough  nine  years  before,  as  a  midshipman  on  the 
deck  of  the  PJiUmJi'lpliia  in  the  Mediterranean  sea,  and 
many  things  had  come  to  pass  in  the  life  of  men  and 
nations  since  then.  A  party  of  young  people  from  the 
Bay  visited  the  navy  yard  under  the  escort  of  Lieut. 
Piatt  Bogers  Halstead,  who  had  just  received  in  April 
his  commissifiu  as  3rd  Lieutenant  in  the  29th  U.  S.  In- 
fantry. Lieut.  Halstead  was  just  nineteen,  still  con- 
scious of  the  unwonted  glory  of  his  new  uniforu),  and 
perhaps  also  of  the  fai-t.th;jt  he   was    the    only    man    in 


'jr>2  HisroiiY  OF  WF.srrnirr 

lii^s  town  who  had  entereil  tlio  reguliU'  stM'vice,  and  who 
cuiisequen.tl}'  tlid  uot  look  to  the  iiiilitia  olHcers  for  or- 
ders, but  to  his  C(.'loi)el,  Melauchton  Smith,  brother  ot 
Lieut.  Sidney  Smith  of  the  navy.  The  only  names  of 
others  in  the  party  which  we  kn<j\v  are  Maria  Halstead, 
sister  of  the  young  lieutenant,  and  Mary  Jenks,  a  girl 
of  tifteeu  who  afterward  married  Ira  Henderson  ;  it  is 
tlirough  thf  hitter's  relating  the  iucident  to  her  daught»-r 
that  its  memory  has  been  preserved. 

Such  an  excursion  at  tliat  time  was  not  witliout  its 
spice  of  danger,  as  there  were  British  gunboats  astir 
upon  the  lake  as  soon  as  navigation  opened.  On  the  third 
of  June  Macdonough  sent  his  two  best  ships,  the  <Tr<>>r- 
!(-/•  and  the  Ea>jle,  under  the  command  of  Lieut.  Sidney 
Smith,"  to  invite  an  engagement.  Tiiey  sailed  away 
out  of  the  mouth  of  the  Creek  and  away  to  the  north, 
but  tin-}-  never  came  back  again.  Oliasing  the  British 
gunbi>iits  too  eagerly,  they  wimt  in  pursuit  of  them  into 
the  Piicheiieu  liver,  and  were  then  surrounded,  and 
both  sloops  and  men  captured,  after  a  sharp  tight. 
The  sloops  were  at  once  repaired  and  sent  out  against 
the  Americans,    under  the  names  of  the  Flttvli  and  the 


♦President  Roosevelt  remarks,  in  "The  Naval  War  of  iSia,"  that  this  name  "i^ 
a  curious  commentary  on  the  close  inter-rclationship  of  the  two  contestintr  peo- 
ples." Lieut.  Smith  cannot  have  been  narr.ed  after  the  Kev.  Sydney  Smith  of  the 
Edinburi;h  Review,  as  the  latter  was  bat  a  boy  of  ten,  and  consequently  not  ye'. 
famous,  when  the  forn\cr  was  born,  and  the  identity  of  names  seems  to  have  been 
a  pure  coincidence.  Prob.ibly  the  distin;;ui->hed  Kngli.shinaa  never  heard  of  his 
American  namesake,  but  the  insolent  piUronage  with  which  he  speaks  of  Decatur 
(in  the  famous  review  in  which  he  asks,  "In  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe,  wtio 
reads  an  American  book  ?")  su^j^esls  that  he  would  have  had  nothint:  but  a  sneri 
lor  our  brave  lieutenarit.ia  his  rni.^forti'.ne. 


HISTORY  OF  WS  Err  OUT  25:-i 

CI, III,,  and  all  that  summer  and  the-  next  they  were  seen 
upon  tlie  lake,  flaunting  the  British  flag,  while  poor 
I.icut.  Smith  cursed  the  rashness  which  hud  so  early 
jiiit  him  outside  the  fight.  The  affair  was  especially 
lamentable  in  view  of  the  comparatively  defenceless 
conditioirof  the  lake  until  the  time  when  3Iacdonough 
should  have  his  squadron  in  readiness.  He  was  terri- 
My  hampered  by  delays  iu  getting  nien  and  stores  from 
the  seaboard,  difliculties  more  tr^-iug  to  a  commander 
than  the  fiercest  engagement,  and  while  he  was  still 
straining  ever}  nerve  in  i")reparatic*u  the  British  invaded 
tlie  state. 

It  was  upon  Saturday,  July  31,  1813,  that  meu  on 
gallu]iing  horses  went  through  the  town,  waruing  every 
militia  man  to  rendezvous  at  the  Valley  the  uext  after- 
unoii,  "there  to  wait  further  orders,  as  a  party  of  Brit- 
ish troops  have  invaded  the  state  and  are  making  fur 
Plattsburgh."  Then  from  Barbel's  Point  to  the  Black 
river,  from  Mullein  brook  to  the  Falls  of  the  Boquet, 
everywhere  the  men  sprang  for  their  guns  and  powder 
herns,  while  the  women  packed  cold  Johnny-cake*  and 
salt  [)ovk  into  their  knapsacks,  and  filled  their  canteens 
with  rum.  If  ther*-  were  no  bullets  moulded  there  was 
ni)  ti(ne  to  njelt  the  lead  now,  and  sctmetimes  an  hour 
after  the  news  was  received  the  father  of  the  family  had 

*"Johnny-cake"  was  corn  bread  mixed  hastily  and  baked  ou  a  stnooth  board 
which  was  tilted  up  before  a  bed  of  coals  in  the  fire-place.  The  name  is  a  ocxrup- 
tion  of  "journey-cake,"  since  it  was  the  only  kind  of  bread  which  could  be  baked 
m  camp,  while  one  was  on  a  journey  through  the  woods.  Brtud  raised  with  yeast 
could  not  be  baked  in  haste,  since  it  needed  a  certain  time  to  rise,  and  it  was  a 
d.ij's  work  to  prepare  the  brick  oven  for  a  baking. 


254  HISTORY  OF  WESTPOllT 

kisseil  theiii  all  urouiul  ami  was  off,  on  foot  or  bor^ie 
back,  to  the  londezvous.  Fiolq  the  niouutaius  of  Keeue, 
from  the  valleys  of  Jay,  from  the  hifjfhlantls  of  Lewis, 
from  tlie  terrified  Like  towns  whose  position  was  that 
of  most  imminent  danger  in  case  of  a  naval  attack,  the 
men  and  thoir  otReers  came  flocking  in,  missiuj^  ac- 
couterments  were  supplied  from  the  stores  in  the  arse- 
nal, the-  ranks  or}staliz;ed  into  order  at  sharp  words  of 
command,  and  away  they  went  alon^-  the  state  road  to  the 
north.  On  Tuesday,  k\\^.  3,  Gen.  Mooers  wrote  from 
Plattsburgh  to  the  governor,  "Gen.  Wright's  brigade 
arrived  here  yesterday  with  about  four  hundred  troops.'* 
If  our  men  left  the  Valley  Sunday  afternoon  and 
reached  Plattsburgh,  forty  miles  away,  on  Monday, 
th.ey  must  have  n:iarch6d  all  night. 

Arrived  at  Plattsburgh,  they  found  the  place  in  the 
Jiands  of  Col.  John  Murray  of  the  British  r(>gulars,  who 
had  landed  on  Sunday  unojjposcd,  with  a  force  of  1-iOO 
men,  and  ^as  burning  and  plundering  at  his  own  will. 
That  this  should  have  been  so  is  one  of  the  mystt^ries 
and  one  of  the  disgraces  of  the  war  but  it  hardh- 
belongs  to  us  to  discuss  it  here.  When  the  British  set 
sail  again  the  Graick-r  and  Kdi/h-,  under  thoir  new 
names,  and  much  ashamed,  it  would  seem,  of  the  new 
colors  they  were  forced  to  lly,  went  ou  up  the  lake, 
threatened  Burlington,  and  sailed  away  to  the  north 
unmolested..  Meanwhile  our  men  went  into  camp  outsiile 
Plattsburgh  and  ate  what  their  wives  and  mot  tiers  had 
put  into  their  knapsacks,  and  at  the  end  of  the  five  days 
for  which  th«'y  had  bet-n  wnrued  out  most  of  tlieiu  went 


HISTORY  OF  WEST r OKI  2oo 

hoijjc  agaiu,  withaut  having  fired  a  shot  at  the  eneni}-. 
Tills  was  iu  no  \vise  the  fault  of  tlie  soldiers,  nor  of 
(ien.  Wright,  who  had  shown  such  alacrity  in  getting 
to  the  front.  A  company  of  Essex  county  mili- 
tia remained  at  "Camp  Platte"  under  the  command  of 
C\q)tain  Luman  Wadhams  of  Lewis  until  Nov.  IS,  when 
tlifv  too  went  home,  and  nnlitarj'  operations  were 
closed  for  the  winter. 

Gen  Wright's  staff  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  cou- 
sisttid  of  Major  Joseph  Skinner,  Brigade  Major  and  In- 
s|H'ctor,  and  Capt.  John  Warford,  Brigade  Quarter 
Master,  both  Clinton  county  men,  with  Captain  John 
(iould  of  Essex  as  Aid-de-Camp.  The  2nd  of  March, 
1S14,  the  two  Clinton  county  men  were  replaced  by 
David  B.  McNeil  of  Essex  as  Brig.ide  Major,  and  Wil- 
liam 1).  Boss  (also  of  Essex)  as  Quarter  Master,  while 
Capt.  Gould  was  retained  as  Aid.  At  the  same  time 
Capt.  Luman  Wadhan.is  of  Lewis  was  commissioned 
*itid  Major  of  the  37tii  regiment,  and  Diadorus  Holcomb 
Surgeon's  Mate,  he  having  been  Paymaster  of  the  regi- 
ment since  Mar.  22,  1809.* 

With  the  opening  of  spring  Macdouough  was  eagerh' 

•Wadhams  and  McNeil  were  afterward  residents  of  Westport.  David  Break- 
tnri  ftje  VIc.Veil  had  two  grandfathers  in  the  Old  French  War;  one  was  Capt. 
A-chibald  McNeil  of  Litchfield,  Conn.,  and  the  other  Lieut.  James  Breakearidge. 
u  ho  accompanied  Major  Philip  Skene  to  England  upon  the  diplomatic  mission 
which  riiadi.-  the  latter  Governor  of  Crown  Point  and  Ticonderoga.  John  McNeil, 
»r)n  of  Archibald,  married  .Mary,  daujjhter  of  Lieut.  Rreakenridge  and  was  the 
father  of  David.  His  daughter  Anne  married  Random  Noble,  Ojinnel  of  the  37th. 
A  son  of  Geo.  Wright's  aid  de-camp.  John  S.  Gould,  afterward  attended  school  in 
West  port,  at  the  old  Academy,  and  his  daughter  Cornelia  married  Henry  R.  Noble 
of  klizabethtown.  and  was  the  mother  of  Charles  H.  Noble  and  of  Mrs.  Richard 
L.  H-nJ  of  the  same  place,  and  of  Dr.  John  Guuld  -N'oble  of  New  \'ork. 


256  HISTORY  OF  WEST  TO  RT 

at  work  a;^aiu  upon  the  buildiLii:  and  fitting  of  his  fleet. 
Savs  liobiiisou  :  "The  sap  had  scarcely  be^uu  to 
swell  the  forest  buds  wlieu  Yer<jeuues,  eight  miles  up 
stream,  where  the  tirst  fall  bars  Davigation,  was  astir 
with  the  building  of  other  cr-rft  for  the  Champlaiii 
navy.  l''o)'ty  days  after  the  great  oak  which  formed 
the  keel  oi  the  Saratoga  had  faileo  from  its  stump,  the 
vessel  was  afloat  and  ready  for  its  guns."^  Several  gun- 
boats were  also  built  thoru,  and  early  in  May,  their 
sappy  timbers  yet  reeking  with  woodsy  odors,  the  new 
craft  dropped  down  the  river  to  join  the  Heet  at  the 
Buttonwoods.  The  right  bank  of  Otter  Creek  at  its 
mouth  is  a  rock-ribbed  promontory,  connected  with  the 
mainland  except  at  high  water  by  a  narrow  neck  of 
low,  alluvial  soil.  On  the  lake  side  of  the  point  earth- 
works were  thrcjiwn  up,  and  moanted  with  several  ])ieces 
of  artillery  for  the  defense  of  the  entrance  against  au 
expected  attempt  of  the  enemy  to'iestroy  the  American 
lleet." 

The  attempt  was  made.  May  14,  lSl-1,  and  early  on  a 
Saturday  morning.  U'e  will  bt;  precise  about  the  da}- 
and  the  houi',  since  this  was  the  one  time  in  all  this, 
war  when  actual  fighting  reached  our  waters.  In  the 
afternoon  of  the  day  before,  (the  13thl   there  appeareil 

•Macdonotigh's  Heet  at  the  battle  of  Plattsbwr^h  consisted  of  his  Sag-ship,  the 
Sarato^'a,  36  Gruns;  the  brijf  £a^'U,  Capt,  Henlv,  i]  g-ans;  the  schooner  T iconJe~ 
TOfrr,  17  guns,  Lieut.  Budd.  The  Ticondercga  s-xi  originally  a  small  steamer,  bu* 
her  uwchinery  was  continually  j^etting- out  of  crisr,  and  so  she  was  schooner - 
ri^g-ed.  Then  there  were  six  ^alic>s,  the  j4/;^»,  Zitrrrr'j,  Borer,  Nftlle,  Vif^r 
and  Centifiini*,  each  with  two  gruns,  and  four  ^allevi,  the  Ludlo:-;,  Wilmer,  Alryn 
and  ^a/Zart/,  with  one  gun  each.  Some  of  the  vt<seL-  wer-;  built  at  Ilssex,  and 
taken  into  ll\e  Creek  to  be  fitted  with  their  ii=.i:':c3'-5. 


HISTORY  OF  WE  ST  PORT  257 

otT  the  village  of  Essc-x,  as  Cten.  Wright  says  in  his  offi- 
cial roport,  a  "British  Flotilla  cousistiug  of  Oue  Brig 
i)f  twenty  guns,  sii:  Sloops  and  Schooners  and  ton  Kow- 
gallics."  The  brig  was  the  Ijinuet,  Capt.  Daniel  Priag. 
Soniewhe'-e  along  the  Willsboro  shore  a  small  boat  had 
been  seen — perhaps  some  peaceful  fisherman  who  had 
not  been  warned  that  a  British  fleet  was  corning,  per- 
impis  some  foolhardy  boy  with  a  youthful  desire  to  see 
liow  war-ships  looh  near  by—and  one  of  the  row-gal- 
leys was  sent  in  pursuit  of  it.  The  small  boat  very 
jn-udently  made  all  speed  into  the  mouth  of  the  Boquet, 
and  succeeded  in  escaping  up  the  river.  The  soldiers 
landed  at  a  farm  house  on  the  north  side  of  the  river, 
;iear  the  mouth,  and  plundered  it,  then  rowed  away  to 
join  the  fleet,  which,  moving  slowh"  against  a  southerly 
wind,  came  to  anchor  for  the  night,  about  sunset,  oiY 
Split  Rock. 

Meanwhile  we  may  imagine  the  excit^iment  in  Essex, 
where  resided,  as  it  happened,  all  the  members  of  Gen. 
Wright's  stati',  as  well  as  the  Colonel  of  the  37th,  the  mi- 
litia  regiment  of  the  viciuity.  Gen.  Wright  was  G  or  7 
miles  away,  putting  in  his  crops,  I  suppose,  upon  the 
hillside  farm,  but  his  officers  acted  at  once.  "I  resid- 
ing some  distance  from  this  village,"  he  writes,  "and 
not  beiug  promptly  informed  of  the  appearance  of  the 
enemy,  Lt.-Cul.  Nobles  anticipated  my  wishes  by  or- 
dering out  the  Militia  from  a  number  of  adjaceut 
towns."  So  once  more  the  alarm  went  through  AYills- 
boro,  Lewis  anil  Elizabethtown,  an«l  once  more  the  men 
rt'.-,p(>ndod  to  the  call,     Auotiier  invasion,  anrl  this  time. 


2r>s  HISTORY  OF  WKSTPOUT 

Hut  forty  miles  twvay,  but  at  their  very  doors.  All 
th;it  uiglit  the  militia  came  streaming  in  to  Esses,  Geu. 
Wrii^'lit  f^alloping  dowu  the  rocky  road  ou  one  of  the 
farm  hoises,  }K'rhaps,  with  some  of  the  men  from  the 
Bay  clattering  at  his  heels.  All  the  Yermout  shore 
was  nj>  in  arms  as  well  as  ours  by  this  time,  ami 
liobiusoD  tells  how  the  militia  oflicer  came  to- 
gether this  same  night,  when  the  British  fleet 
lay  otf  Split  Bock,  and  were  busy  running  bullets  at 
Yergennes.^  At  Essex  groups  of  anxious  men  stood 
upon  the  shore  and  looked  oil  to  the  soutli  where  the 
lights  of  the  hostile  ships  twinkled  in  the  darkness. 
No  lighthouse  then  stood  above  "the  Split,"  but  if  the 
night  was  clear  some  shadowy  outline  of  the  ships  was 
visible.  As  day  began  to  dawn  there  was  a  stir  of 
awakening  upon  the  water,  capstans  creaked  in  re- 
sponse to  words  of  command,  the  anchors  of  the  fleet 
were  raised,  and  it  moved  away  to  the  south,  confirm- 
ing what  had  long  since  been  conjectured,  that  the  ob- 
ject of  the  invasion  was  an  attempt  upon  Macdonough's 
fleet  then  fittinj^  in  Otter  Creek. 


*The  present  Mrs.  James  A.  Alien  has  told  me  o£  an  incident  often  related  by 
her  grandfather,  Captain  John  Winans  of  the  steamer  Vermont,  which  occurred 
some  time  during;  this  war.  Fearful  of  an  attack,  he  determined  that  his  vessel 
should  never  fail  into  the  hands  of  the  British,  and  so  laid  a  train  to  powder  casks 
in  the  hold,  and  pave  directions  tliat  at  the  word  of  command  the  train  should  be 
hred,  and  the  Vermont,  crew,  British  and  all,  if  such  should  be  the  condition  of 
affairs,  blown  out  of  the  water  together.  One  nig^ht  a  boat  was  suen  approaching 
in  the  darkness,  and  the  word  went  round  for  all  handi  to  be  ready,  but  just  in  the 
Dick  of  tune  the  newcomers  were  discovered  to  be  of  their  own  partv,  and  the  pow- 
der was  not  fired.  So  desperate  a  resource  was  not  likely  to  be  thought  of  except 
in  a  time  of  imminent  danger,  like  this  night  when  the  British  fleet  lay  off  Split 
Rock,  and  all  the  coast  was  awake  ani  alive  with  terror  and  resolution. 


HISTORY  OF  WKSTl'ORT  259 

Tho  works  at  fhe  mouth  of  the  Ottev  were  defended 
by  Capt.  Thornton  of  the  artillery  ftiid  Lieut.  Cassiii  of 
the  navy.  The  British  sailed  tt>  within  two  miles  of 
the  works,  and  then  eight  of  the  row-galleys  "and  a 
boDil)  ket<;h"  moved  up  and  made  an  attack  with  can^ 
non,  bomb  and  musketry,  which  was  repelled  with  much 
spirit,  the  Americans  having  one  gun  dishionnted  and 
tw(.  men  slightly  v;ounded,  whik:  the  galleys  suffered 
considerable  damage,  and  soon  drew  off.  All  this  was 
in  full  sight  of  Northv,est  Bay,  and  only  six  miles  away 
across  the  water,  so  that  if  any  one  there  had  slept  that 
night,  they  were  awakened  by  the  roar  of  cannon  ech' 
oed  back  from  the  steep  niountain  cliff  opposite  the 
little  fort,  (which  we  now  call  Fort  Cassiu,)  while  all 
the  rocky  sides  of  the  Split  Bock  range  roared  in  an- 
swer. I  suppose  the  people  at  the  Bay  listened  and 
looked,  and  ran  about  hiding  their  treasures,  and  tried 
to  plan  what  they  would  do  if  the  Britisii  came  into  the 
l)Hy  and  firexl  upon  tlie  village.  There  is  a  tradition 
about  the  family  silver  at  Basin  Harbor  being  buried 
under  a  rosebush  in  the  garden— with  the  ro.-:ebush,  or 
its  lineal  desjcendant,  shown  in  confirmation,— which 
1  have  always  heard  referred  to  the  time  of  the  battle 
of  l^luttsburgh,  but  it  is  really  much  more  likely  to  have 
happened  at  this  time,  when  the  noise  of  battle  was 
only  four  miles  away  instead  of  forty. 

The  British  turned  again  to  the  north,  and  the  watch- 
ers ui)on  every  i^eadland  of  the  lake  sent  the  swift  news 
inland  that  there  would  be  no  great  battle  between  the 
jh-'-'t>.  that  d.iy.     At  uoou  the  king's  ships   came  to  off 


200  iiisTony  OF  wKSTPoirr 

llie  vilhige  of  Ess(^x,  ami  "the  Comiuodure,"  says  Geii. 
"Wright,  "dispatched  an  otticer  with  a  flag  dcmamliug 
the  sim-ender  of  a  small  sloop  belougiiig  to  Mr.  Win. 
D.  Ross  Avhicli  had  been  launched  two  days  previous, 
but  which  had  foi'tniiately  been  conveyed  to  the  south- 
ward of  the  Fort  at  Otter  Creek."'  ^Ve  wonder  how 
Capt.  Pring  can  have  kuowu  anything  about  this  «loop, 
but  it  seems  that  the  mast  and  spars  had  been  left  ly- 
ing upon  the  beach,  and  naturally  suggested  a  hull  to 
which  they  might  belong."  The  sloop  must  have  been 
hiddeii  in  Karn  liock  bay,  Rock  Harbor  or  Partridge 
lliirbor,  the  latter  being  by  far  the  best  hiding-place. 
The  owner  of  the  sloop,  by  the  way,  was  the  sou  of 
our  Eli'/abeth,  after  whom  Bessboro  was  named. 

Meanwhile  the  militia  were  drawn  up  about  a  mile 
back  fr(Mn  the  village  in  a  }iositif:)ii  to  command  every 
niovement  of  the  enemy.  "About  three  o'clock"  says 
Gen.  Wright's  report,  "three  of  the  Enemy's  lvi>w  gal- 
lies  passsed  U[)  the  river  Roqnett  and  landed  at  the 
falls,  where  after  demanding  the  public  prc^perty  (whicii 
had  been  timely  convoyed  to  a  distance)  and  learning 
that  the  Militia  were  in  force  a    few    miles   distant   ami 


•Here  is  doubtless  the  germ  of  the  legend  still  told  in  our  town  of  ships  hidden 
en  North  Shore,  soiiieliraes  referred  to  the  time  of  Arn<  Id's  batile  with  Carle- 
tond,  and  sometimes  to  this  war.  The  writer  has  been  in  the  habit  of  telling 
ti-.e  story  with  no  less  than  two  frijjates,  fall  rigged,  always  hidden  away  in  Par- 
tridge Harbor,  the  tall  niasta  being  made  invisible  by  green  branches  lashed  upon 
then.  After  I  one  day  observed  a  "laker"  lymg  inside  the  h.irbur,  with  her  in  ists 
rot  reachinif  the  tops  of  the  trees  on  the  promontory  wiiich  hides  the  ha  bor  from 
the  lake,  I  omitted  the  branches  as  unnecessary,  addin>r  a  carronade  to  the  tpir 
deck  of  one  of  the  frigates  and  an  interesting  middy  to  the  crew  of  the  other  to 
makeup  for  the  loss.  And  now  {  am  S  ecome  a  drudging  historian,  imcklvac- 
tt-pting  this  one  sinali  sloop,  with  no  mists  at  all,  since  she  was  just  launched,  in 
place  of  all  th.it  brave  fiction  I 


HISTORY  OF  WUSTFOh'T  201 

■wore  ou  the  iiuiich  to  iuterce})t  their  retreat,  they  pre- 
<'i[>itatelj  embarktd  in  their  boats  and  ruade  for  the 
Lake.  Ou  ascertaiuiug  that  the  euemy  were  shaping 
tl)(.'ir  course  towards  the  mouth  of  the  river  Lt.-Col. 
Nobles  directed  his  march  towards  that  poiut,  and  I 
approving  of  his  plan  of  operation,  I  directed  him  to 
cross  tlie  wood  and  post  his  men  ou  the  bank  of  the 
riivor,  \\  Inch  was  dune  with  the  greatest  promptness, 
iu  time  to  arrest  the  progress  of  the  enemy's  gallies,  the 
crew  of  which  were  so  disabled  as  to  oblige  them  to 
hoist  a  flag  of  distress,  when  a  sloop  came  to  their  as- 
sistance and  towed  her  oil'."  The  Americans  had  two 
men  slightly  wounded.  Their  position  during  the  fight 
was  extremely  favorable,  liriug  upon  the  boats  from  the 
toj)  of  the  river  bank,  which  is  high  an  steep  near  the 
month  of  the  Boquet.  The  guns  in  the  galley  could 
not  be  pointed  high  enough  to  reach  tl)em,  most  of  the 
catjuon  balls  striking  the  bank.  The  report  concludes: 
**I  hope  and  expect  that  Commodore  Macdouough  will 
in  the  course  of  a  few  day?j  be  able  to  assume  the  com- 
mand of  the  Lake,  which  will  relieve  the  anxiety  of  the 
inhabitants  residing  on  its  borders."^ 

The  next  day  Macdonough's  squadron  sailed  out  from 


•It  was  not  until  this  report  was  found  among  the  papers  of  Governor  Tomp- 
kins and  published  by  the  Essex  County  Republican  in  iSgfi,  this  and  other  docu- 
ments bein^  furnished  by  Hciav  Harmon  Xoble,  thcit  the  details  of  this  enga^e- 
nunt  were  known  to  the  present  generation.  The  account  given  in  Watson's 
History  of  Kssex  County,  published  iN'tj,  shows  the  absence  of  such  definite  in- 
formation as  we  nov.-  por.sess.  He  refers  the  incident  to  the  year  1813,  greatly  un- 
derestimates the  force  of  the  British,  and  adds  that  they  "retired  after  a  slight 
bkirinish  with  a  body  of  Militia  under  General  Wadhajns."  Mr.  Watson  was 
wrifine  souie  fifty  yc;trs  after  th«  eveol,  and  did  not  stop  to  refiect— possibly  did 
/lol  know — that  Ur'adia  inis  w:is  not  a  CJcner.il  durjuc    the   war   of    iSii,   nor  for  a 


2t:-J  HISTORY  OF  WESTPOUT 

the  tranquil  (Jtter  into  the  Narrows  atid  aM'.iy  to  the 
north,  the  fioek  of  white  sails  watched  breathlessly  from 
Nortliwest  Bay  aud  Barber's  Point  and  from  many  a 
highland  farm  that  commanded  a  view  of  the  lake.  At 
Basin  Harbor,  where  officers  and  men  had  become  fa- 
miliar visitants,  with  some  fricndsliips  formed  which 
were  never  broken,  the  event  was  of  stirrin;^  moment. 
AH  that  summer  Macdonough  cruised  upon  the  lake, 
drilling  his  men,  stieugthening  his  crews  by  the  ad- 
dition of  salt  water  sailors  of  experience,  and  showing 
no  fondness  for  the  boatmen  of  the  lake,  as  military 
material.  I  never  heard  of  one  of  our  boatmen  as 
lighting  on  Macdouougli's  fleet,  which  seems  a  little 
curious  at  first.  And  all  the  summer  our  people  saw- 
soldiers  and  supplies  passing  down  the  lake  toward 
the  frontier,  until  in  September  the  decisive  battle  was 
fought. 

It  must  Imve  been  the  last  day  of  August  that  Gen. 
Izard  with  an  army  of  four  thousand  troops  came 
marching  along  the  new  state  road  southward  through 
Pleasant  Valley, ordered  from  Plattsburgh  to  the  Niagara 
fr(.ntier.  Scarcely  had  the  tramp  and  the  niusic  of  the 
ranks  died  away  in  the  distance  when  niouuted  officers 
came  riding  in  hot  haste  by  the  same  road,  aud  by 
every  by-way  of  the  whole  town,  with  orders  warning 

number  of  years  afterward,  but  2nd  Major  in  the  37th  regiment  of  which  Ransom 
Noblr  was  atthe  time  nieut.-Col.  Conimandaot,  he,  with  every  other  man  in  the 
field  that  day,  bein^  under  the  direct  command  of  Briijadier-General  Daniel 
Wright.  The  General  says  in  his  report,  *'Jt  would  be  invidious  to  distinguish 
particular  orticers  and  soldiers  who  acted  in  this  encounter.  With  pleasure  I  can 
ussure  you  that  every  m.in  enjjaged  co.^ducted  himself  with  the  cool  deliberatior. 
o£  a  veteran." 


IIJSTOHr  OF  WE  ST  POUT  263 

out  the  militia  to  repel  a  British  invasion  from  the  north. 
Gen.  Wri^'htj  at  home  ou  his  farm  on  the  rugged  slope 
of  the  Split  Rock  mountains,  received  his  division  or- 
ders by  the  hand  of  a  horseman,  one  of  his  own  statl', 
from  Essex,  to  whom  thev  had  been  brought  by  horse 
or  boat  from  Plattsburgh,  We  can  imagine  the  old 
general  standing  iu  the  road  and  listening  to  the  sound 
of  horse's  hoofs  coming  nearer  and  nearer  over  the 
rough  and  uneven  road,  until  the  horse  burst  out  of  the 
forest  into  the  clearing,  and  the  headlong  rider  drops  a 
paper  into  the  general's  hand.  It  was  endorsed  on  the 
outside  "Express,  Will  Major  McNeil  or  John  Gould, 
Aide,  at  Essex,  see  that  this  order  is  delivered  immedi- 
ately,"    Opening  it,  he  read  ; 

"Division  Okdeks,  Plattsburgh,  August  31,  1S14. 

Brig.  Gen.  Daniel  Wright  will  assemble  immediately 
the  whole  of  the  Militia  under  his  command  in  t!ie 
I'ouuty  of  Essex  and  march  directly  to  Plattsburgh  to 
repel  an  invasion  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

Com})anies  as  fast  as  they  assemble  will  march  to 
this  place  or  to  some  place  of  rendezvous  iu  the  vicin- 
ity  thereof,  without  v.aiting  for  others,  those  near  the 
arsenal  will  supply  themselves  vvith  arms  from  thence 
which  the  commisary  is  hereby  directed  to  issue. 
Others  wjll  be  furnished  when  they  arrive  here. 
Py  order  of  Major  Gen, 

Benjamin  Mooers. 

R  H,  Walworth,  Aid-de-Camp." 

And  so  it  had  come.  The  fourteen  thousand  British 
tioop.>,  many  of  them  veterans  of  European  wars,  gatli- 


264  mSTORY  OF  WIlSTroRr 

ered  upon  the  Cunacli;ui  fiuiitier,  had  adually  iuvadeil 
the  State,  while  tlie  main  bod}'  of  our  own  army  was 
tliat  moment  marcliinj::;  away  to  tlie  sontii  under  Iz;ird. 
Gen.  Wright's  mind  mnst  have  o;onc  back  thirty-five 
years  to  tlie  time  M'heu  he,  a  yonno;  fellow  of  twenty- 
one  in  a  New.  Hampshire  regiment,  sav/  Burgoyne's 
splendid  coiniucriug  army  come  sailing  up  the  lake  to 
Ticouderogci,  with  its  banners  and  music  and  parks  of 
artillery,  the  emblem  of  pride  and  confidence,  driving 
St.  Clair  from  his  entrenchments  by  the  sheer  power 
of  what  it  was  able  to  do.  He  had  gone  with  the 
American  army  in  its  humiliating  retreat,  and  such 
things  are  not  forgotten.  l>at  he  had  seen,  too,  the  sur- 
render at  Saratoga,  and  neither  was  that  forgotten.  So  he 
turned  and  went  into  the  house  and  told  the  family  that 
he  had  got  his  orders,  and  his  wife  Patience  and  his 
daughter  Jerusha  cried  a  little  as  they  helped  him  into 
his  uniform  and  buckled  on  his  sword  and  bruslied  his 
cocked  hat  and  filled  the  llask  which  is  still  cherished 
by  a  great-grand-daughter.  Then  he  mounted  his  sad- 
dle-horse, which  a  little  grandson  had  been  sent  to  catch 
up  out  of  the  pasture,  and  rode  away  out  of  tlieir  sight. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  his  son-in-law,  Elias  Sturtevant, 
felt  it  his  duty  to  stay  for  the  protection  of  the  women 
and  chiKlren  on  that  lonely  farm,  and  let  his  musket 
and  powder  horn  hang  peacefully  over  the  fi'eplace, 
except  when  wolf  or  bear  slioweil  itsi^lf  too  near  the 
door. 

Geu.   Wright's  brigade,  the  4th,  in  Maj.  Gen.  ]Mooers' 
division,  consisted  at  this  time  of  three-  regiments,  tht? 


HISTORY  OF  WESTPOirr  203 

'.)tli,  Lt.-Col.  Maitiu  Joiner,  the  STtli,  Lt.-Col.  liaiisom 
Xoble,  and  ^lajor  Pieuben  Sanford'f;  independent  oi'  un- 
re^^iwented  battalion  wliicb  bad  been  set  off  from  the 9th. 
In  the  o7th,  as  we  have  seen,  were  most  of  our  militia 
men,  in  the  companies  of  Oa])t.  Levi  Frisbie  and  Capt. 
Jesse  Braman,  with  some  in  the  cavalry  company  of 
Cnpt  Jolm  Lobdell.  It  is  told  that  when  Capt.  Bra- 
man's  company  gathered  at  the  Falls,  early  one  moru- 
in^7,  ready  to  start  for  Plattsburgh,  he  gave  tliem  all 
breakfast  at  liis  own  expense.  Maj.  Wadhams  was  also 
in  the  37th. 

On  Friday,  Sept.  2nd,  the  first  detachment  marched 
away, for  many  of  the  men  the  third  time  they  had  march- 
ed to  Plattsburgh.  The  next  Tuesday  came  the  first  act- 
ual fighting,  early  iu  tlie  morning  of  the  Gth.  Mooers 
had  taken  them  across  the  river  to  meet  a  column  of 
l^ritish  troops  which  Avas  moving  upon  Plattsburgh,  not 
with  the  intention  of  giving  battle,  but,  as  ho  says,  "to 
check  and  thwart  his  movements,"  and  also,  (which  he 
does  not  say)  glad  to  try  the  mettle  of  his  green  troops, 
the  men  who  had  left  farms,  mill  and  forges  a  few  days 
before,  carrying  flint- lock  muskets  which  had  never  been 
leveled  at  anything  but  the  wild  beasts  that  threatened 
the  farmer's  sheep.  There  was  some  sharp  fighting  as 
the  militia  retired  to  the  river,  and  ^Mooers  says,  "Some 
part  of  the  ujilitia  behaved  on  this  occasion,  as  well  as 
since,  with  the  greatest  gallantry,  and  were  not  sur- 
passed in  courage  and  usefulness  by  the  regulars  on 
that  day."  And  he  was  also  obliged  to  remark,  "There 
was  a  ['ortiou  of  the  militia  that   could   not   be   rallied, 


2(;n  lUSTdRY  OF  WF-STroliT 

fijiil  s(>uio  of  tilt-so  retii-LH,]  iinmodiHtoly  to  their  li(»!ii«r«:>/' 
— thut  is,  rail  at  the  first  luo,  ami  never  stu|>peJ  rnii- 
Jiiug  until  the}'  rHjiohed  a  phice  wliich  they  oousiileretl 
safe. 

The  ilivy  of  the  Battle  of  riattsbiu;i^li  fell  upoD  Sun- 
da}',  Sei)t.  i},  1814.  The  day  before,  as  it  liappened, 
was  the  one  appointed  for  the  regular  "church  aud  cov- 
luiut  uieetiug"  (which  all  Baptists  are  accustomed  to 
hold  upon  Saturdays,  iu  prejuiration  f(»r  the  commun- 
ion service  the  uext  day)  at  ^Northwest  Bay,  and  you 
nuiy  read  to-day  upon  the  worn  and  yelloweil  pages  of 
the  old  church  hook,— 

"Sept.  10.  Usual  time  for  holding  Church  meeting, 
but  on  the  acct'unt  of  an  Alaram  it  was  omitted."  The 
"Alaram"  was  the  news  that  the  British  tieet  had  ap- 
peared below  Plattsburgh,  and  that  a  battle  was  immi- 
nent. The  euitry  mast  have  been  made  later,  as  the 
clerk  of  tlie  church,  Tillinghast  Cole,  is  believed  to 
have  marched  with  his  comijany  to  tight  tlie'iiext  day. 
Deacon  A.bner  Holcouib,  t'5>,  wh(i  was  wont  to  lead 
the  meetings,  was  in  th^  service  nujre  or  less 
throughfiut  the'  war,  althongh  he  must  have  been  an 
exempt  by  reascui  of  his   age."      And   so   at  North we.->t 

♦On  the  Thursday  before  this  the  members  of  a  Congregational  church  at  Fair- 
field had  a  similar  meeting-.  Their  minister,  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Woosttr, 
had  been  a  soldier  in  the  Revolution,  and  a  warlike  spirit  being  discovered 
among  his  church  members,  u  company  was  formed  then  and  there,  with  the  Rev. 
Benjamin  as  Captain.  They  crossed  the  lake,  and  on  Sunday  aided  the  niiii'.ii 
under  Gen.  Stron.^  in  the  final  repulse  of  the  Hntish  across  the  ford.  Gov.  Temp- 
kins  afterward  presented  the  valiant  volunteer  captain  with  a  b.rge  faraily  Bible 
in  recosnitioa  of  his  peculiar  services.  On  the  morning  of  the  battle,  the  Friends 
(or  (Jiiakers)  of  <>,-inJ  1-le  attempted  to  Jiold  their  rei;uLir  Kirst  Day  meeting:,  but 
were  obliijcd  to [;ive  il  up,  as  the  proper  st.ite    of   mind   couUl    nut   be   raaintaiced 


IlISTOhT  OF  WKSTJ'ORT  2G7 

Bay  there  was  no  quiet  Sunday  cratliering  iu  the  little 
-^I'liool  house,  but  terror  and  suspense  iu  every  home  as 
tiie  souud  of  furious  caunonadiuj^-,  ten  times  as  heav}- 
;is  auythiuf^  heard  in  the  week  prertediu^,  was  borue 
distinctly  up  the  lake,  beginning  between  eight  and 
nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  continuing  two  hours 
uud  a  half.  Then  it  all  stopped,  and  not  for  days  was 
r-Ttiiitj  news  ]'eceived  of  the  issue  of  the  fight.  Hauuali 
Hardy  at  the  Falls  used  to  tell  her  grandchildren  how 
tlie  women  listening  at  home  fancied  sometimes  that  the 
boom  of  cannon  was  coming  nearer,  as  though  tlie 
]:'»ritis!i  were  approaching  up  the  lake. 

Meanwhile  the  men  were  taking  part  in  one  of  the 
buttles  of  history,  so  far  as  the  naval  battle  is  cou- 
cei  ued,  althougli  the  engagement  upon  the  land  scarcely 
rises  above  the  importance  of  a  skirmish.  The  hostile 
fleets  met  in  Plattsburgh  bay  on  a  beautiful,  placid 
September  morning,  with  the  blue  lake  only  rippled  by 
a  gt^ntle  breeze  from  the  south,  and  a  few  wiiite  clouds 
rioutiu'T  in  a  bh^?,  sunshin\'  skv.  Commodore  Dowuie 
had  his  flagship,  the  Cuiijiance,  30  guns,  the  Limnf,  16 
guns,  the  CJixhh,  11  guns,  and  the  Finch,  11  guns,  with 
twilve  gunboats  managed  b}-  sweeps.  Commodore 
Macdouough  had  his  liag-ship  the  Scratoya,   20  guns, 

whi.c  Ihc  cannon  fire  bclwcen' the  licet-  w;is  going  on  outbidc  helow  ilmr  very 
wmJows.  'I  he  next  year  John  Conuy,  a  Friend  preacher,  rame  all  the  way  from 
k'ennsylvania  to  visit  the  Friends  in  this  reg'ion,  and  wrote  one  day  in  his  diary, 
'1  r.aJ  a  meeting  at  Friends'  nicetintf  house  on  the  west  side  of  the  Island,  and 
nearly  opposite  where  a  bloody  battle  was  fouijht  on  the  lake,  about  a  year  ago, 
during  meetini;  time.  It  must  have  b^cu  an  awtul  shocking  scene  I"  He  also 
wiote,  "In  passintr  throuji^h  Plattsburgh,  the  ravages  ot  the  battle  on  the  lake  were 
p..i:r,:y  visible  " 


'JGs  rnsTom'  of  \vi:sri'()RT 

the  Knijh:^  20  j^'iujs,  the  T'i('(,iiili!r<>(j(i,  17  ^uus,  :ui(l  tho 
Frt-hlf,  7  i^mi.s,  with  ten  guuhouts.  Thoy  t'oai:;;ht  for 
over  two  hours,  and  when  the  British  had  lost  one-tit'tli 
of  their  lueii,  Coiiimodore  Dowuie  ami  a  number  of  liis 
orticers  bi>iiig  among  the  first  slain,  with  scarcely  a 
mast  left  on  any  vessel  sound  enough  to  raise  a  sail 
upon,  the  Britisli  colors  struck  to  the  stars  and  stripes, 
and  a  great  shout  of  victory  went  up  from  the  Amer- 
ican sailors."^ 

-  As  Downie's  tieet  opened  the  u[)on  Mac(h)nougirs, 
the  ]>ritish  land  forces  under  Sir  George  Prevost  ad- 
vanced to  the  attack  of  the  American  position.  Gen. 
^Macomb  w ith  his  1500  regulars  occupied  strtmg  f'ntiti- 
c;atiotis  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Saranac,  between  the 
river  and  the  lake.  In  the  Central  and  most  imp  jrtant 
redoubt.  Fort  Moreau,  was  the  20th  regiment,  Col. 
Melancthon  Smith,  in  which  Piatt  Pi.  Halstead  was  ^ud 
Lieuttaiant.  The  troo}>s  lined  llio  para]»et  in  double 
ranks  awaitiug  the  attack  of  t!je  enemy,  but  as  the 
]jritisL\^ever  crossed  the  river,  the  fighting  was  all 
donf»  at  long  range  with  the  artillery. 
The  enemy  attempted  tlie  passage  of  the  Saranac  by 


♦Palmer  quotes  tlic  remark  of  a  British  marint  to  the  effect  that  the  battle  oi 
Trafalgar  was  "but  a  ttea  bite"  to  the  battle  of  Plattsburgh.  When  one  consiilers 
that  at  Trafalgar  forty  f.tjhting  ships  on  one  side  an!  thirty  on  the  other,  some  of 
them  carrying  more  jjiins  than  did  Maccionoiii^h's  whole  tleet,  fought  two  bv  two. 
with  guns  almost  month  to  mouth,  the  Victory,  which  earned  a  hundred  guns, 
completely  crippling  the  gigantic  Bueentaur  with  one  broadside  in  two  minutes, 
the  compariion  is  seen  to  be  quite  absurd.  It  can  only  be  explained  on  the  theory 
that  the  British  s.iiior  was,  for  some  reason,  not  so  much  in  the  thick  of  the  fight 
af  Trafalgai  as  he  v/as  at  Plaltsburgh.  since  it  is  v/ell  known  that  one  cannon  ball 
coining  directly  your  way  is  a  mare  interesting  object  than  a  thous:ind  which  seem 
more  likely  to  bt-  inj-t  by  some  other  fellow. 


in  ST  our  OF  wsKTj'o/rr  209 

tv,o  bridges  in  the-village' and  by  a  foid  three  miles  up 
the  river.  The  ruilitia  under  Gen.  Mooers,  i\bout  700 
in  number,  were  entrusted  with  the  defense  of  this  ford, 
and  here  was  Gen.  Wright  with  his  brigade.  Gen. 
^looers,  says  in  his  report  to  the  Commander  in  Cliief,. 
"On  the  morning  of  the  11th  the  action  began  with  tlie 
tl^'et,  the  enemy  at  the  same  time  opening  all  his  batter- 
ies upon  our  forts.  About  an  hour  afterwards  the  enemy 
presented  themselves  in  considerable  force  to  effect  a 
])assage  of  the  Saranac  at  a  fordable  place,  one  of  my 
cantonment,  where  the  Essex  militia  and  some  few  de- 
tached volunteers  were  posted.  In  disputing  the  pas- 
sage of  the  river  a  sharp  contest  ensued.  The  militia 
under  the  command  of  Majors  Sanford  and  Wadharas, 
two  excellent  otHcers,  stood  their  ground  during  a  num- 
V>er  of  well-directed  fires,  and  until  the  enemy  had 
eftncted  the  passage  of  the  river  and  ascended  the  bank, 
when  a  retreat  was  ordered  and  effected  in  good  order 
before  a  force  evidently  far  superior,  carefully  improv- 
ing every  gol-^position  to  continue  our  tire  upon  them." 
They  fell  back  to  a  small  battery  about  two  miles  from 
the  ford,  a?id  there  matle  a  stand,  and  with  the  help  of 
tliH  guns  stop]"»ed  the  enemy's  advance.  At  this  point 
a  man  on  horseback  was  seen  galloping  up,  waving  his 
hat.  It  was  Major  Walworth,  one  of  Gen.  Mooers' 
staff,  who  had  been  sent  to  the  shore  of  the  lake  to 
watch  the  naval  battle  and  report  its  ju'ogress.  The 
waving  hat  meant  "Victory  !"  and  so  the  quick-witted 
Yankee  men  understood  it.  They  ]M'essetl  upon  the 
ejifiuy  with  exuhaiit  .cheer.-s,   anil   a    large   bod\-   of  Ver- 


1^ TO  IIIH TOR Y  OF  ]VF:S Tl'OR T 

moiit  vohiutticvs  nniler  Gen.'  Stri>ng  havinf^'  eoine  a[. 
tlioy  (.1  rove  the  British  back  across  the  river  witli  con- 
siderable loss.  Tliat  night,  under  cover  of  darkness 
and  storm,  tlie  British  retreated — "decamped  very  sud- 
.den  and  unexpected,"  says  Mooers,—  Icaviijg  their 
wounded  and  their  stores  biliind  them.* 

In  Gen.  Mooers*  report  wo  find  "Majors  Eeuben  San- 
fttrd  and  LunianWadhams  mentioned  above  are  enti- 
tled to  notice  for  their  gallantry  and  good  conduct,  as 
also  Brigade  Major  David  B.  McNeil  and  Brigade 
Quarter  Master  Wm.  D.  Boss  for  their  activity  and  at- 
tention in  the  line  of  their  duties."  Major  Reaben 
Sauford  lived  in  Wilmington  and  conducted  a  hirge 
business  there.  His  grand-son,  Henry  Chiy  Avery,  was 
for  many  years  a  merchant  at  Wadhams  ]\rills,  and  his 
great-grandson,  Harry  Avery,  is  now  a  young  lawyer 
in  New  York.  Majors  Wadhams  and  McNeil  afterward 
became  residents  of  ^''estport,  the  former  becoming 
prominent  in  the  town  life,  and  rising  to  the  rank  of 
General.  William  Daniel  Ross  dealt  in  lumber,  iron 
and  ship-buiKling  in  Essex  ;  his  wife  was  a  sister  of 
Oa-^.t.  John  Gould,  Aid  on  Gen.  Wright's  stafi;  and  his 
l)rother,  Henry  H.  Boss,  (afterward  Gen.  Ross,)  was 
adjutant  of  the  87tli  at  the  battle  of  Plattsbnrgh.  The 
militia   were  disbanded   immediately   after   the   battle, 


•Readers  of  Mrs.  Catherwood's  charming  romance  of  "Lazarre"  will  be  pleased 
to  recall  that  tlie  real  Eleazar  Vt'illiams,  whether  or  no  he  was  the  rightful  King 
of  France,  was  certainly  present  at  the  battle  of  Plattiburgh  and  was  wounded  in 
his  riffht  side.  Perhaps  our  Dr.  Diadorus  may  have  helped  to  bind  up  the  wound. 
To  be  sure,  he  wis  more  likely  to  be  occupied  with  wounded  militia  men,  but  it  is 
a  pixjr  im.ijfination  .'vii-.ch  could  not  contrive  scir.c  succession  of  events  which 
would  brinj;  thrin  together. 


HISTORY  OF  WESrrOin  271 

shu'c  tlie  citizen  soldiers  wpi'e  uever  kept  from  their 
lioines  longer  than  was  positively  necessary,  but  uiany 
of  them  yielded  to  the  temptation  of  staying  a  little 
Imi^'er  to  celebrate.  Their  families  were  no  longer  in 
danger,  and  the  women  of  1814  weie  quite  equal  to 
milking  the  cow  and  splitting  the  kindling  wood,  while 
the  scene  of  the  recent  camp  of  the  British  was  a 
fascinating  spot.  Ti-nts,  camp  equipage,  ammunition, 
clothing,  private  papers,  even  money  had  been  left  be- 
hind by  Prerost,  and  s\)o\\  from  this  camp,  rather  than 
from  the  battle  fiehl,  was  scattered  through  two  coun- 
ties, with  )nany  a  boat-load  taken  to  Vermont.  For 
years  the  militia  trainings  were  gay  with  uiiiforms  and 
swords  from  the  camp  of  Prevost. 

We  can  imagine  the  home-coming  of  the  men,  all  con- 
qiicritjg  heroes  in  the  admiring  eyes  of  their  wometjfolk. 
All  the  stori(^^^  I  have  over  heard  th.e  old  people  tell 
dr-L-lare  that  no\iews  of  the  battle  was  received  until 
after  several  days,  which  would  seem  to  argue  that  no 
ilfserters  came  houie  early  with  tales  of  disaster.  IVr- 
haps  there  were  no  deserters  among  our  men,  and  if  there 
\vere,  perhaps  they  had  the  discretion  to  kee[)  out  of  the 
way  of  the  wouien  until  the  other  men  cauie  home. 
Some  cam^  back  wounded,  like  Capt.  Frisbie,  who  lost 
a  h-g.  When  the  iie\\s  of  the  victory  and  of  his  wound 
<ame  to  the  Point,  the  families  there  had  had  their 
Jiousehold  goods  loaded  into  wagcjus  since  the  cannon- 
ading first  l)egun,  feeling  themsidves  to  be  in  a  place 
]>eeuliarly  exjxised  in  <;ase  of  a  descent  of  the  Pritish 
>i'lditM'\-.     'It  was  rj.'fes^arv  that  sixut,^  one  should  gi>  to 


272  niSTOKY  OF  M'ESTrnRT 

riattsl)arf4li  to  take  care  of  the  \vouncleil  captain  huO 
briuj<  him  home,  aud  as  his  wife  was  uot  able  to  gi~)  at 
the  time,  his  sister,  "the  widow  Barber,"  went  and 
brought  liitn  home  in  a  sailing  boat. 

There  has  lieeu  preserved  a  letter  written  upon  tlie 
day  of  the  battle  by  Mary,  wife  of  Capt.  Jared  Pond  and 
daughter  of  Piatt  Kogers.  Tiie  Ponds  were  then  liv- 
ing at  .Basin  Harbor,  Mrs.  Pond  being  mistress  of  the 
house.  A  woman  who  could  sit  calmly  down  and  write 
a  letter  in  the  midst  of  such  confusion  as  she  describes, 
in  a  house  full  of  women  and  children,  with  the  doors 
bolted  aud  barred,  must  have  had  something  of  forti- 
tude in  her  nature.  She  writes  on  Sunda}'  afternoon. 
Bason  Hakbor,  Sept.  11,  ISU. 

Dear  Husband,  I  sit  down  to  address  a  ff>w  lines  to 
you,  (if  it  please  Grod  that  you  are  still  in  the  land  of 
the  livincr,)  tr>  inform  vou  of  our  situation  at  present." 
She  is'soon  interrupted,  but  resumes  lier  pen  again  in 
the  evening.  "Snntlay  evening.  I  was  called  away  by 
company  coming  in.  There  is  some  alarm  here  among 
women  and  children  about  an  Indian  that  was  seen 
yesterday  in  the  woods  near  Panton.  To-day  at  Mich- 
ael Gage's  hf  got  some  bread  and  butter  and  came  on 
this  way.  Tiie  m^ighbors  have  bet.m  out  to  look  for 
him,  but  have  discoveretl  nothing  more  of  him  yet.  A 
person  just  knoekeil  at  the  d<Jor  ;  I  inquired  who  was 
there;  was  answered  "Friend  !"  I  uufasteiiod  the  door 
and  let  in  a  yonng  man  whom  I  found  to  ha  Lyman 
Chamberlajn.  He  tells  me  he  saw  you  yesterday,  and 
that  vou  infi>rmed  him   v.^u  should  not  return  till    \"oa 


JUS  TONY  or  WESTPORT  27.V 

saw  which  way  it  turued."  It  is  plain  that  she  would 
like  very  much  to  have  him  at  homo  again,  which  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at,  and  she  alludes  to  "all  our 
uei.ii^iiboring  men,  generally  speaking,  going  to  the  army, 
leaves  us  in  rather  n  tried  situation.  However  I  wish 
not  to  complain,  and  shall  endeavor  to  bear  my  part 
with  becoming  patience  and  fortitude,  with  the  assist- 
ance ofj  Divine  Grace.  There  have  been  a  number  of 
cannon  heard  to-day.  We  are  anxious  for  the  safety 
of  husbands,  friends  and  fellow  countrymen.  I  hope 
the  prayers  of  God's  people  are  continually  oft'ered  up 
to  Him  who  is  able  to  protect  our  army  and  give  suc- 
cess to  our  arms  in  driving  back  our  enemies  to  their 
own  borders.  ^lay  our  Almighty  Father  protect  and 
defend  you,  and  return  you  in  safety  to  be  a  blessing 
to  your  family.  M.  P.  (Mary  Pond.)  Perhaps  I  shall 
write  more  before  this  ^oei>. 

Davbrsi^  Tuesdav  uiorning.  Since  writing  the  above 
1  have  experienced  a  multiplicity  of  scenes.  Our  house 
;ind  barn  have  been  filled  since  Monday  night  with 
st)ldiers  from  the  South.  I  yesterday  experienced  an 
excess  of  joy  for  a  few  moments  on  account  of  the  vic- 
tory, but  was  soon  damped  by  the  news  of  Mr.  Barron's 
death,  which  also  gave  new  cause  of  anxiety  for  your 
fatf^.  Before  night  we  receiveil  news  of  your  being 
among  tlie  slain,  by  wa}-  of  Yergennes.  But  the  Lr»rd 
is  still  good  and  gracious.  I  was  enabled  to  stand  the 
shock  with  a  degree  of  fortitude,  and  declared  in  tlie 
midst  of  my  trouble  in  this  manner:  "I  do  not 
believe  it."'       I  liatl  so  ft-rvently  commended  you  into 


'274  IIJSTORV  OF  WEST  POUT 

the  hands  of  our  RotLveuly  I'.itlier  tliat  1  felt  as  though 
it  could  not  be.  It  woukl  be  diftleult  to  describe  tlie 
auguisli  of  our  ])oor  cliildreu  on  hearing  the  news. 
I>ut  in  an  hoar  ^ve  heard  that  after  the  action  you-vvere 
seen  and  spoken  with,  were  well  and  in  good  spirits. 
Tliis  almost  overpowered  my  poor  feeble  fi-ame — -so 
sudden  a  reverse  !  Blessed  and  praised  forevermore  be 
our  Eternal  Father,  for  such  I  feel  Him  to  be.  Do  re- 
turn as  soon  as  possible.  I  can't  express  my  joy 
and  satisfaction  on  reflection  that  you  have  been  pre- 
served, and  so  far  have  done  a  duty  that  every  true 
friend  to  their  country  ought  to  do.  Our  poor  friend 
Ida  Barron  is  with  us.  O  how  heartrendiug  are  such 
scenes.  May  the  Lord  support  her  and  sanctify  it  to 
her  soul.  Once  more  I  beseech  the  Almighty  to  return 
you  in  safety,  but  am  still  anxious.  AVe  heard  cannon- 
ading last  night,  which  appeared  to  be  nearer  than 
Plattsburgh.  God  only  knows  what  will  be  the  next 
news.     Farewell." 

"Oury'ioor  friend  Ida  Barron"  means,  I  tliink,  the  wife 
of  Joseph  Barrou,  the  pilot  of  Macdonough's  flagship, 
who  was  killed  just  at  the  close  of  the  action,  after  the 
enemy's  flag  had  been  struck,  by  a  stray  shot  from  one 
of  the  craft.  He  was  just  returning  his  watch  to  his 
pocket,  having  taken  it  out  to  determine  the  duration 
of  the  battle.  He  must  have  been  an  inmate  of  the 
liouse,  more  or  less,  for  several  years,  as  there  are  old 
deeds  of  various  dates,  made  out  there,  which  I  have 
seen,  sigued  by  "Barron,  Jr.,"  as  a  witness.  Lt.  Hal- 
stead  mourneu  him  as  one  of  his  tlearesl  friends.'- 


■    HISTORY  OF  WE  ST  PORT  '275 

Tlie  regulars  remaiuecl  at  Plattsbur;^li  until  v.intor, 
large  bodies  of  X'uited  States  troops  being  ordered 
there  imuiediately  after  the  battle,  to  prevent  the  possi- 
bility of  another  laud  invasion.  No  invasion  by  water 
could  be  thought  of  since  Macdouough's  sweeping  vic- 
t«)ry,  and  the  commodore  requested  service  on  the  sea- 
board under  Decatur.  His  ships,  and  those  be  had 
captured,  were  not  withdrawn  to  Otte;r  Creek,  but  to 
Fiddler's  Elbow,  near  Whitehall,  where  they  lay  for 
years,  "never  again,"  as  Eobinsou  says,  "to  be  called 
forth  to  battle.  There,  where  tlie  unheeding  keels  of 
commerce  pass  to  and  fro  above  them,  the  once  hostile 
liulks  of  ship  and  brig,  schooner  and  galley,  lie  beneath 
the  pulse  of  waves  in  an  unbroken  quietude  of  peace." 

Although  the  war  was  really  over,  except  for  the  De- 
cember battle  far,  far  away  at  New  Orleans,  the  lake 
dwellers,  thrown  out  of  all  their  old  habits  of  quiet  in- 
dustry by  the  alarms  and  excitement  of  the  past  two 
years,  sujffered  needless  terrors  that  winter  from  rumors 
rea^ invasion  from  Canada,  v;hich  should  ravage 
and  burn  Macdouough's  ships  as  they  lay 
frozen  in  the  ice.  Details  were  supplied  of  hoises 
!ind  sleighs,  artillery  mounted  on  runners,  fur-clad 
troops  with  snow-shoes,  and  many  a  frightened  womaij 
sat  knitting  socks  or  mittens  as  fast  as  her  lingers  could 
tly,  listening  to  the  men  as  they  talked  of  all  this,  and 
determined  that  if  the  soldiers  of   her  household   went 


of  a  great  in 
the  shor^.  a 


•One  of  my  idle  q;ie?>t.s  has  been  an  aUempt  to  discover  a  relationship  between 
Joseph  Barron,  pilot  of  Macdonoiigh's  tlag-ship,  and  Commodore  Barron  of  the 
Chf^apeiiit-,  the  one  who  killed  Decatur  in  a  duel,  six  years  after  this. 


276*  HISTORY  OF  WESTPOliT 

forth  to  meet  such  an  army,  tliey  shonhl  be  chid  as 
warmly  against  the  bitter  cold  as  her  strength  and  skill 
could  compass.  But  when  the  news  came  in  February 
that  the  treaty  of  peace  was  signed,  all  alarms  were 
over.  From  that  time  onward  life  preseided  the  old 
problen)S  with  Avhich  men  liad  wrestled  before  they 
were  called  from  the  daily  struggle  with  wild  na- 
ture, the  forest  and  the  soil,  tt)  fighting  their  fellow  men. 
Material  progress  had  almost  entirely  stopped  during 
the  war,  not  because  the  men  had  been  employed  upon 
military  service  the  greater  ]xirt  of  the  time,  which  it 
would  not  be  correct  to  say,  but  because  the  times  had 
been  so  unsettled  that  men's  nnnds  had  not  dwelt  upon 
their  own  affairs  as  they  had  been  wont  to  do  in  times 
of  peace.  It  is  a  common  remark  among  historians  of 
this  war  that  the  northern  settlements  were  nearly  ru- 
ined at  its  close.  Nevertheless,  the  evils  of  neglect  are 
soon  repaired,  and  soon  the  oW  ever}'  day  work  was 
taken  up  with  redoubled  vigor.  The  tide  of  immigra- 
tion from  older  settlements  set  in  once  njore  to  these 
short^!  and  the  population  rapidly  increased. 

One  lasting  monument  to  this  war  is  found  in  the 
names  bestowed  upon  some  of  the  boys  who  were  born 
soon  after.  Dr.  Diadorus  Holcomb  named  a  son  Henry 
Harrison,  and  Tillinghast  Cole  named  one  Perry. 
Other  instances  are  A.  Macdonough  Finney  and  Bain- 
bridge  Bishop  in  Elizabethtown,  and  Montgomery  Pike 
Whallon  and  Stejihen  Decatur  Derby  in  Essex — the 
latter  addressed  as  "Commodore"  all  his  life  in  allusion 
tf^  this  name. 


HISTORY  OF  WKSrroRT  '211 

But  iu  no  particular  did  the  war  leave  its  mark  upon 
the  daily  life  of  the  people  so  mnch  as  iu  the  new  sougs 
Avhieh  came  to  be  sung.  The  only  musical  insti^iments 
likely  to  he  in  town  at  that  time  were  violins,  mOre  or 
less  rude,  and  played  with  toil-worn  fingers.  Uncle 
Jed  Barnes,  the  fiddler,  then  lived  on  the  corner,  on  the 
jirescnt  site  of  the  club  house,  and  the  children  iu 
the  school  house  a  little  way  farther  to  the  south 
used  to  go.iu  after  school  hours  and  beg  him  to  sing 
the  "Massacre  of  the  River  Raisin."  It  is  a  curious 
fact  that  the  name  of  Jeduthun  Barnes  was  prophetic 
of  that  gift  by  which  he  is  remembered  in  our  local 
history,  since  we  read  iu  1  Chron.,  16:4:2;  "And  with 
them  Hemau  and  Jeduthun  with  trumpets  and  cym- 
bals for  those  that  should  make  a  sound,  and  with 
niusical  instruments  of  God."  He  was  the  uncle  of  the 
Jim  Barnes  of  our  day,  and  any  one  who  now  remem- 
bers hearing  the  latter  sing  "Marching  through  Georgia" 
can  imagine  the  tuneful  zeal  with   vvhich   "Uncle  Jed'' 

delivered  tiiese  lines  : 
A 

"In  Mr-liij^an  forest  the  night  whids  were  high; 
Fast  drifted  tlu'  snow  through  the  bleak  winter  sky. 
The  trees,  cliris  and  niountains  u-ere  hoary  and  cold, 
And  the  waves  of  theiliiisincongealedas  they  rolled." 

Then  there  was  the  Star  Spangled  Banner,  with  the 
lines  going  a  trifle  luMivily,  but  with  plenty  of  breath 
very  effective.  But  neither  of  these  delighted  our  an- 
cestors like  the  songs  written  about  our  own  great  bat- 
tle. There  was  the  story  about  the  game-cock  on 
l)oard  >[acd<>nough's  tlag-ship.  One  of  the  first  shots 
ixy)\n  the  enemy  shattered  the  cooj)   and   set   him   free, 


27S 


insTonr  of  wijsitort 


when  be  flew  up  ia  the  rigo-i„o.  aud  crowed  with  all  his 
"'i.c^ht.  Ihe  sailors  were  so  delighted  with  the  omen 
that  they  cheered  him,  and  always  believed  that  the  in- 
cident was  significant  of  victory.  There  were  some 
liBes  to  the  tune  of  ''John  Anderson,  mv  Jo  John" 
which  allude  to  this  : 

"O  Jobnny  liull,  mv  Jo  John, 

BelK.Id  on  Lake  Champlain. 
VV.ith  more  Ihau  equal  foix-e.  John 
.     lou  tried  your  tist  again. 
But  the  cock-  sa.v  how  'twas  going.  John, 

Ana  cried  cock-a-doodie-doo, 
Aud  MacdODough  was  vietoriou.s,  John 
U  Johnny  Bull,  my  J(je."  ' 

Then  there  was  ^'The  Siege  of  Plattsburgh  -  to  ih^ 
tune  of  "Boyne  Water,)  first  sung  in  a  variet'v  theatre 
^n  Albany,  poor  stufi'  enough,  but  no  sociafocca-sion 
was  complete  without  it  for  many  years. 

-Backside  Alb^tny  stan'  Lake  Champlain. 

Litlie  pond  half  full  o'  water- 
i^iatt^burgh  dar  loo.  clo.se  'pon  cle  main. 

On  r  J'fr?       '  ^""--T"'  ^''^-''''  ^^'^'  hereafter. 
fa^*;  Clnimplain  Uncle  Sam  set  he  boat 


An    3Jas.sa  Macdonough  be  sail   enj 

^^'d  de'lnV'^"?™'  '''''''  Platt-buruh  hel^l.e. 
>Vid  de  army  whose  courage  neber  fail  -em  '• 


Another  is  still  fondly  remembered  amon<^  the  older 
people,  who  recall  it  with  an  enthusiasm  quite  out  of 
in-oportion  to  its  poetic  finish.  The  national  hisforv  is 
reviewed  in  twenty  or  more  stanzas,  two  of  which  nin 
like  this  : 

•'When  Provo.st  saw  he'd  lost  his  fleet 

tie  gave  out  special  or(h"rs 
i-or  his  whole  annv  to  retreat 


HISTORY  OF  WEST  PORT  27!^ 

Aod  leave  tbe  Yankee  borders. 
Thro"  dreary  wilds  aud  boss's  and  feus 

Tlie  luckless  general  blundered, 
Ho  tied  with  tiftecn  thousand  men 

From  ^Jaeomb's  (iftecn  hundred."' 

No  instructions  -u-ill  bo  needed  as  to  the  ervpeeted 
j)ronunciatiou  of  the  last  word. 

But  the  favorite  of  all  others  was  a  home  production, 
•.•ailed  ''The  Noble  L;ids  of  Canada/'  sung  to  a  rollick- 
ing tune  of  its  own.  The  story  goes  that  it  was  Avritten 
by  one  Minor  Lewis,  living  in  Mooers,  a  town  next  the 
Canada  line.  His  imagination' dwelt  upon  the  recent 
exciting  events  until  one  day,  as  ho  was  chopping  alone 
in  the  woods,  the  words  of  the  song  began  to  take  shape 
in  his  mind.  He  found  a  bit  of  charcoal  and  a  large 
tdiip  with  a  smooth  surface— some  sa}-  the  smooth  top 
of  a  stump— and  there  wrote  the  words  before  they 
could  escape  him.  I  prefer  the  chip  story  to  the  stump 
st(jry  myself,  because  ho  could  carry  the  chip  home  and 
store  it  away  as  the  ancients  stored  away  the  leaves  of 
papyrus  after  they  were  written  upon.  But  genius  like 
that  makes  no  allecu^tlijn  of  forgetting  its  own  produc- 
tion, even  if  it  has  been  left  upon  a  stump  in  the  depths 
of  the  woods,  and  the  song  was  soon  published  bv  the 
power  of  many  a  lusty  thn^at.  It  afterward  found  its 
way  into  print,  and  the  sarcastic  impersonation  of  the 
British  which  was  necessary  for  the  singer  gave  it  just 
the  dramatic  touch  which  insured  its  success.  The 
words  suffered  many  variations,  s(jmetin)es  beginning 
"Con:e  all  ve  Noble  Englishmen,"  and   sometimes  with 


2S0  lirSTORY  OF  WEST  PORT 

liues  inserted   cc^utaiiung  local  hits,  accordiug  to  the 
place  and  the  occasiou. 

Come  all  ye  British  heroes,  I  pray  you  lend  your  ears. 
Draw  up  your  British  forces,  and  tlieu  your  voluutoers. 
We"re  ^^oing  to  fight  the  Yankee  boys  by  water  and  by 

laud, 
And  we  never  will    return    till    we   eouquer,    sword  iu 
hand, 

We're  the  noble    lads   of   Canada,  come  to  arms, 
boys,  come. 

Oh,,  now  the  time  has  come,  my  boys,  to  cross  the  Yan- 
kee's line. 

We  remember  they  were  rebels  once  and  conquered  John 
Burgoyne, 

We'll  subdue  those  mighty  rebels  and  pull   their    dt^el- 
liogs  down. 

And  we'll  have  the  States  inhabited  with  subjects  of  the 
crown. 

We're  the  noble  lads  of  Canada,  etc. 

Now,  we've  reached  the  Plattsburgh    banks,    my    boys, 
and  here  we  make  a  stand. 

Until  we  take  the  Yankee  fleet.   MacDouough  doth  com- 
mand; 

We've  the  Growler  and  the  Eagle,   that  from  Suiith   we 
took  away, 

And  we'll  hav'^^heir  noble  fleet  that  lies  anchored  in  the 
bay,  ' 

We're  the  noble  lads  of  Canada,  etc. 

The  last  verses  portray  the   growior;    dismay   of    the 
British,  and  the  chorus  changes  to  a  dismal  refrain, 
We've  got  too  far  from  Canada,  run  for  life,  boys,  run  !" 
— sure  to  delight  tiio  audience   who    had   been   looking 
forward  to  this  climax  from  the  fust. 

Considerable  interest  attaches  to  the  question,  What 
did  the  soldiers  of  the  warof  1812  wear?  Theoretically, 
tlie  militia  were  supposed  to  wear  the  uniform  prescribed 


HISTORY  OF  WESTl'OKT  2S1 

for  regular  troops.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  militia 
wore  evorj'thiug,  from  their  own  homesjum  to  uniforms 
of  British  soldiers  which  had  been  picked  up 
u}H)n  battle  fields.  There  was  a  regulation  that  ever}- 
companj  should  have  at  least  a  certain  number,  (thirty,) 
1  believe,)  of  uniformed  soldiers  when  they  appeared 
uj)on  parade,  under  penalty  of  disbandmeut,  and  of 
course  the  natural  wish  of  the  male  bird  for  fme  feath- 
ers operated  strongly  in  support  of  this  regulation. 
Ikgularly  equipped,  the  soldiers  in  a  Light  Infantiy 
Corps,  according  to  the  militia  law  of  1809,  appeared 
in  "dark  blue  coats  with  white*  linings,  scarlet  facings, 
coUai-s  II nd  cuffs,  and  white  underclothes,  (trousers,) 
and  the  buttons  of  the  uniform  shall  be  either  of  white 
or  yellov,-  metal."  In  1814  there  was  a  movement 
toward  economy  in  dress,  experience  having  doubtless 
proved  its  expediency.  An  appeal  for  raising  a  new 
volunteer-company  says  : 

"A  clieap,  neat  and  bec(jming  uniform  is  fixed  upon, 
calculated  rather  to  give  a  soldierly  ap-pearance  than  to 
attract  and  j->lea.-5e  the  eve  of  childhood — It  is  siinplv 
as  follows  : 

"A  blue  broadcloth  roundabout,  narrow  rolling  col- 
lar, single-breasted,  buttoned  in  front  with  bell  but- 
tons, a  row  each  side  extending  to  the  top  of  the  should- 
er, with  one  on  each  .side  the  collar.  iJeaver  of  a 
straight  crown,  about  nine  inches  high,  helmet  front, 
tliniiuishiug  gradually  toward  the  back,  leaving  there 
only  half  an  incli  brim  ;  a  waving  red  plume,  the  statf 
of  which  supported  bv  a  stri]>o  of  broad  gold  lace,  run- 


1^S2  JIISTORY  OF  WJJSTJ'OKT. 

n'lu^  from  the  base  or  rim  of  the  hat,  nnd  formiug  a 
cockade  near  the  top,  with  a  Darrow  band  of  lace. 
Cartonch  box  covered  with  red  nioiocco,  secured  round 
the  waist  by  a  belt  of  tiie  same,  to  whici)  the  bayonet 
scabbard  will  be  atlixed.  Yellow  nankeen  pantaloous, 
black  haudktTchief,  l)oots,  together  Avith  a  musket,  com- 
plete the  dre.^H  and  equipment." 

The  Aitilltrty  wort;  "'lou^  dark  ])hie  coats,  with  sear- 
let  linings,  facinj^s,  collars  and  cuffs;"  some  companies 
had  "dark  blue  pautaloous,  white  vests,  black  t:;aiters 
or  half  boots,  and  rN^md  or  cocked  liats,  as  may  be  de- 
termined by  the  oflicers."  Ariother  company  we  find 
with  "yellow  buttons,  white  underclothes,  and  cocked 
hats  with  tije  cockade  of  the  Army  of  the  United 
States."  There  were  Eitle  Conjpanies  wearin^^  "^reeu 
frocks  and  pantaloons  with  yellow  fringe,  black  gaiters, 
lound  black  hats  ornamented  with  yellow  buttons, 
black  lou|>s  iind  short  gree-u  feathers." 

GoTernor  'J'ompkins,  writing  in  1810  a  letter  which 
enclosed   a  conirnissiou  as  Li<Hiteiiant  Colonel,  .says: 

"The^iiaiform  of  tlie  station  is  a  i)lue  coat  with  bull 
facings,  collar  and  cutis,  Yellow  F.}>aalettes,  butf  under 
clothes,  Cockud  h;it,  or  Ch;ipe;iu  bias  with  a  Cockatle 
oruMtnented  b}-  a  Golden  Eagle  in  tlie  center  and  such 
additional  mounting  as  pleases  you.  Myself  and  Aids, 
to  distinguish  ourselves  from  the  inferior  General  Ofri- 
cers  and  their  staff,  mount  no  feathers.  The  sword. 
belt,  sash,  spurs  and  boots  are  left  to  the  taste  of  eacli 
aid  who  also  puts  embroidery  or  lace  on  his  coat  or 
not  ;vt  hi.->  pleas^avo." 


HISTORY  OF  WE  ST  J*  OUT  2SS 

Th('  cavalry  color  was  greeu,  like  the  ritle  companie.-, 
ilioui^h  with  mauy  distiiiguisliii)^  uetails.  Au  order  of 
Sept.  3,  1805,  for  the  foroiatiou  of  a  troop  of  horse  in 
Now  York  city : 

"The  uuiform  of  the  Cavalry  being  left  by  Law  to  be 
ii.**v'd  by  the  Commander  in  Chief,  ho  directs  that  it 
(•onsist  for  the  Regimental  Field  and  Stafl'  and  Troop 
<'>tiicers,  of  a  short  Green  Coat,  faced  v.ith  black  Velvet 
collars,  cuffs  and  wings  on  the  shoulders  of  the  same, 
light  buttons  on  the  Lappelle,  two  on  each  side  of  the 
collar,  three  on  the  sleeve,  and  three  on  the  skirt.  The 
buttons  to  be  small,  yellow  and  of  a  conical  form,  the 
l)utton-holes  and  along  the  edges  of  the  Coat  '^the  bot- 
tom excepted)  to  be  trimmed  with  gold  lace  or  yellow- 
silk  binding,  the  buttons  and  Epaulettes  of  the  like 
colciur,  with  Iniff  Vest,  buckskin  ]3reeches  and  long 
black  top't  boots." 

Examples  of  all  these  different  uniforms  might 
sf.uietimes  be  seen  in  a  militia  regimout  upon  tiain- 
iiig  days  and  musters.  Aftei-  the  war  these  trainings, 
made  a  graud  holiday  for  the  entire  population,  be- 
came more  ftuportint  and  more  punctiliously  attend- 
ed than  ever  before,  aud  the  next  generation  grew  up 
Well  versed  in  niilitary  tactics,  at  least  as  presented 
l>y  the  luilitia  otMcers  of  a  couuti-y  town.  ]Many  an 
oUl  sword  ami  utiifoi-m  which  has  been  preserved  as  a 
relic  of  the  war  of  1S12  dates  no  farther  back  than  the 
militia  trainings  of  the  years  succeeding  the  w.-ir. 
J'.ast  of  the  ]>lack  river  the  regular  places  for  mili- 
far\  fXer(.i>e   wi^xc   at    Darber's    Point  ami  North-west 


'JS-J  HISTORY  OF  WKSrrORT 

V);\\.  '  Meu  uo  inoit;  than  fifty  yoais  old  cau  uow  re- 
member the  trainings  in  the  village,  sometimes  on 
the  fiat  just  below  the  Carpenter  house,  sometimes  in 
the  jiubiic  siiuare  in  front  of  Person's  Hotel.  The  nat- 
ural (.Irsii-e  to  wash  the  dust  out  of  one's  throat  after 
the  execution  of  arduous  maneuvers  on  a  warm  sj)riug 
day,  together  with  the  spirit  of  eonvivialit}'  sure  to  be 
awakened  at  the  sight  of  (^Id  comrades,  led  to  habits  of 
indulgence  which  sometimes  turned  the  whole  occasion 
iuto  a  farce,  and  partly  on  this  account,  and  partly  be- 
cause Uncle  Sam  has  come  to  depend  upon  volunteers 
for  tfte  lighting  of  his  battles  the  observance  of  the  day 
fell  iuto  disrepute,  and  has  been  long  a  thing  of  the 
past. 

List  of  Westport  Men  in  Active  Service  During-  the  War  of  1812. 
Gen.  Daniel  Wright,  Brigadier-General  of  the  -lOth 
]>rigade  of  Militia.  He  fought  at  Bunker  Hill,  served 
eight  months  under  Col.  John  Stark  and  a  year  under 
Col.  Satuuol  Reed,  then  in  Jane  of  1777  was  sent  to 
Ticonderoga,  with  his  regiment,  to  await  the  attack  of 
Bar^)yue.  When  St.  Clair  evacuated  Ticonderoga  he 
Weill  with  the  retreating  arniy,  fought  at  Saratoga,  and 
saw  the  surrender  of  Jjurgoyne.  After  coming  into  Es- 
s.-c  county  he  was  made  "ind  Major,  March  24,  lSO-2.  1st 
Majt)r  in  180(5  and  Lieuteuant-('olonel  Commandant 
in  1807.  Then  February  lltli,  1811,  he  was  commis- 
sioned Brigadier-General,  which  rank  he  held  until  he 
resigned  from  the  service  !\[arch  22,  IS  10,  at  the  age  of 
sixtv. 


HisrouY  OF  wsETPoirr  2So 

Gen.  Luraau  ^Vadh;lLlls.  Was  couunissioned  Ca]>- 
taiu  Feb.  lltli,  ISll,  aud  2ud  Major  March  2nd,  18U. 
After  the  war  he  was  promoted  Colonel  of  the  37th  re-;- 
irnont  of  Militia,  March  21st,  1821,  was  made  Bri<:;a- 
dier-Gf^neral  of  the  40th  Brigade,  following  Gen.  Ran- 
scTiu  Noble,  who  had  followed  Gen.  Daniel  Wright. 
He  moved  from  Lewis  into  Westport  in  1822. 

Major  David  B.  McXeil.  Commi.'--.siont'd  Adjutant  of 
the  37th  regiment  Feb.  11th,  1811.  On  March  2nd, 
1814,  he  was  commissioned  Brigade  Major  and  In- 
spector upon  General  Wright's  stafi'.  He  moved  from 
Essex  to  Westport  in  1822,  remainijig  six  years. 

Captain  Asa  Aikens,  more  commonly  known  as  Jndge 
Aikens.  He  entered  West  Point  iNov.  30th,  1807,  and 
was  commissioned  Captain  in  the  31st  regiment,  U.S.  A. 
April  30th,  1S13.  His  regiment  was  recrnited  in  Ver- 
mont, and  commanded  by  Col.  Daniel  Dana.  He  moved 
from  Windsor,'  Yt.,  to  "Westport  in  1843. 

Sergeant  AVilliam  Guy  Hunter.  Enlisted  July  30th, 
1814,  at  Windsor,  A't.,  at  the  age  of  nineteen.  He  w;is 
a  Sergeant  in  Capt.  Ira  AMUiams'  coujpnny,  the  2()th 
New  York  ^ifantry.  After  the  war  was  over  he  went 
to  the  Military  Academy  at  '\^'est  Point,  where  he  re- 
mained three  years.  Moved  from  Windsor,  Yt.,  to 
Westport  in  1838. 

Lieutenant  Piatt  liogers  Halstead.  Conunissioned 
3rd  Lieutenant  in  2'Jth  Infantry,  V.  S.  A.,  Ai)ril  30tli, 
1813;  promoted  2nd  Li.'utenant  1-Vb.  2(Uli,  ISM,  nnd 
honorably  discharged  June  1"),  1815,  u})on  the  rcduc- 
ticM  of  the  army  to  a    peace  estahlishujrut.      The    Cul- 


'2S(j  HISTORY  OF  WKSTJ'OJrF 

ouel  of  tlie  29tli  liifiintiT,  (luaiulv  a  Dntchcss  county 
reojimt-'jit.)  was  Col.  r^lelanctlioii  Stuith  of  Plattsburgb, 
son  of  Jud^^e  MelaiietlKJU  Sniitli  of  roughkeepsie. 

The  fliree  Dieti  last  uained,  Ciqitain  Aikeus,  Lieuteu- 
Hi)t  Halsteacl  and  Seigeant  Hunter,  were  the  only  otli- 
oerri  of  the  regular  ai-niy  (in  distinction  from  the  mi- 
litia) \\\\i>  lived  in    Westport. 

As  for  the  organization  of  tlie  militia,  we  hnd  by  I'e- 
ferring  to  the  ^Military  Minutes  of  the  Council  of  Ap- 
P'ointment  of  the  State  of  >sew  York  that  as  eaily  as 
April  2,  1796,  a  new  company  ^^as  fornjed  "of  the  mil- 
itia at  Pleasant  Yale  and  Bettsboiongh,"  of  which  Eli- 
jab  JJishop  was  made  Captain  and  Elijah  Newoll  Lieu- 
tt-nant.  Bishop  was  afterw  aid  a  Major,  and  Elijah 
Nt'well  became  later  a  Captain  iu  the  37th.  Then  in 
179S  a  new  regiment  was  formed  of  Clinton  County 
militia  (then  including  Essex  C<JuntT)  to  be  command- 
ed by  Lt.  Col.  Daniel  Eoss,  in  which  Chiules  Hatch 
was  made  Pa-ym;ister.  Further  search  in  these  volum- 
inous Council  Minutes  reveals  these  names  and  titles 
of  ine^i  belonging  to  our  t(nvn. 

Mfjor  Hezekiah  ihirber.  He  ^vas  a  Captain  in  1800, 
•2nd  Major  in  ISOG,  and  first  :Major  in  Daniel  "Wright's 
n  giuient  in  1S08.  Dying  in  ISIO,  he  did  not  live  to 
ser-  the  war. 

Tlio  Lobdells  seem  to  have  l)eeu  a  warlike  race.  Syl- 
vanus  Lobdell  was  a  (Quartermaster  in  ls02.  "When 
the  first  artillery  company  in  the  coimty  was  formed. 
July  n,  1801,  r.oughtoii  E(.b,iL-li  was  made  2nd  Eieut. 
lu  bSilS  we    find   .John    Lobdell    cornet    in    the    cavalry 


HISTORY  OF  WESTPORT  -JST 

troop  of  Tbeodorus  Ross,  in  1811  Ifit  Lt.,  in  1812  Cap- 
tain and  iu  1817  resignerl.  Jacob  Lobdell  was  a  Cap- 
tain of  ritieineu  in  1819. 

We  find  also  mentioned  :  Capt.  Nathaniel  Hinkley, 
Lt  Jbomas  Hinkley,  Capt.  Joel  Finney,  Capt.  Elijah 
8torrs,  Capt.  George  Andrews  and  Lt.  Samuel  W. 
Felt. 

Captain  Levi  Frisbie  was  the  most  seriously  wound- 
ed of  any  of  our  men  iu  the  battle  of  Plattsburgh,  los- 
ing one  leg.  There  is  a  reference  to  him  iu  a  letter 
from  General  Mooers  to  General  Wright  as  follows: 

"Capt.  Frisl/ee,  by  whom  I  had  this,  has  called  ou 
uje.  I  have  signed  the  certificate  to  which  your  name 
is  attached,  or  I'ather  made  a  certificate  on  the  back  of 
that,  yet  his  name  ought  to  be  annexed  to  your  return 
of  the  disabled  and  wounded,  which  return  I  wish  to 
have,  witii  tliose  of  the  killed,  as  soou  as  you  can  con- 
veniently obtain  them.  I  expect  soou  to  set  out  for 
Albany,  and  wish  to  take  them  with  me, 

I  am,  sir,  your  ob(.>dient  servant, 
p  Beuj.  Mooers. 

Plattsburgh,  2S  July,  1815. 

To  Brig.  Geu.  Daniel  Wright,  Elizabethtown." 
Capt  Jesse  Braman  gave  his  whole  company  break- 
fast at  Braman's  Mills  ou  the  morning  when  they  start- 
ed for  the  scene  of  the  battle  of  Plattsburgli. 

Two  Ensigns  of  the  oTth  are  mentioned,  John  Gree- 
b-y,  Jr.,  and  Vine  T.  Bingham.  Ensign  Greeley  was 
wounded  iu  tiio  ..h<juhl.r  at  the    b;jttle   of  Plattsburfdi. 


2Sb-  iiisTony  OF  WKsrroirr 

His  father' fought  at  Banker  Hill.  Johu  H.  Low  was 
au  Eusiau  in  1821. 

Ensign  Jason  Dunster  was  in  the  servico  in  New 
Hampshire,  being  stationed  at  Portsmouth.  He  came 
to  \Yestport  in  1821. 

]jieut.  ]!sathan  DeLauo  of  Ticonderoga,  2nd  lieuten- 
ant in  Capt.  Mackenzie's  cavaliy  company,  seems  to 
Iiave  come  to  "Westport  with  his  son,  Josepli  E.  DeLano, 
and  was  buried  in  this  town. 

Diadorus  Holcoml)  was  Paymaster  of  the  37th  in 
1809,  was  made  Surgeon's  Mate  March  2,  1811,  and  as 
such  did  good  servico  at  the  battio  of  Plattsburg,  being 
afterward  j.jj'ouKjted  Surgeon. 

In  1821  the  liev.  Cyrus  Comstock  was  appointed 
Chaplain  of  the  o7th. 


It  must  be  romenjbcred  that,  tlieoreticidly,  every  man 
in  th^  townshi}i,  over  the  age  of  eighteen  and  un- 
der ifiii  of  forty-five,  belonged  to  the  militia  by  no 
choice  of  his  own,  and  was  liable  to  military  duty  at  any 
moment  upon  the  i-equisitiou  of  his  superior  otHcer. 
He  did  not  enlist,  and  he  did  not  volunteer;  he  was  a 
soldier  because  he  was  a  citizen.  Nevertheless,  the  quo 
tas  r«,'quired  of  tiie  several  military  districts  would  be 
naturally  filled  by  the  men  most  willing  to  serve,  and 
this  made  it  virtually  a  volunteer  service.  There  are 
many  cla.-.-es  of  exempts,  sucli  as  Government  ( thcers. 


HISTORY  OF  WE  ST  PORT  2S9 

clergymen,  ferrymen,  postmasters,  mail  carriers,  iuu 
keepers,  etc.,  as  well  as  all  those  physically  incapable. 

My  sources  of  information  have  been  tliese:  1st,  the 
list  of  soldiers'  graves  decorated  every  Memorial  Day 
Sy  the  S.  C.  Dwj-er  Post  of  the  G.  A.  E.,  furnished  me 
by  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Edward  Osborne.  2ud,  notes 
made  by  Mr.  Henry  Harmon  Noble  from  the  war  rec- 
ords at  Albany,  freely  given  me  so  far  as  I  was  able  to 
make  use  of  them.  3rd,  Military  Minutes  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  Appointment  of  the  State  of  New  York,  17S3- 
1821. 

I  am  sorry  not  to  have  been  able  to  spend  the  time 
.to  make  out^a  complete  list  of  names  for  each  cemetery 
for  nse  upon  Decoration  Day,  but  this  would  now  re- 
(juire  many  hours'  work  in  visiting  the  most  remote 
parts  of  the  town,  and  1  will  give  the  names  as  I  fiiid 
them  upon  my  notes. 

Isaac  Alden,  Samuel  Anderson,  Jeduthan  Barnes 
Joshua  Bennett,  Ephraim  Bull,  Joseph  Call,  Tilling- 
hast  CoK^,  Seymour  Curtis,  John  Daniels,  Joshua  Dan- 
iels, Arclubald  Dunton,  Elijah  Duuton,  David  Clark 
and  D/'fius  Ferris,  (in  the  Vermont  militia,)  Asa 
Farusworth,  Gideon  Hanjmond,  Joseph  M.  Havens, 
Ira  Henders(jn,  (wounded  at  the  battle  of  Plattsburgh,) 
Johnson  Hill,  Abner  Holcomb,  Amos  Holcomb,  Asa 
Kinney,  \Yaite  B.  Lavrrence,  Erastus  Loveland,  Wilson 
Low,  Pl.itt  pogurs  Sheldon,  Ebeuezer  Sherman,  Wil- 
liam Viall. 

Buried  at  AVadhams,  besides  Gen.  "Wadhams,  Capt. 
Bramau  and  ]:Lnsign  Du)ister,  arc  Benjamin  Hardy,  J otjl 


2!)0  IJfSTORV  OF  WKSTPOl^r 

French.   Snln.on   Cooper,  Thomas   Hadlev,   ami  John 
\\  iiituev. 

lu  a  Hst  of  invalid  pensioners  ^^■e  find,  beside^,  the 
names  of  Daniel  Wright,  Levi  Frisbie  and  John  Gree- 
-  ley,  these  names:  John  Viall,  Eldad  Kellog.  David  and 
Sami^el  Pangborn  and  Ebenezer  Newell,  who  was  a  fif- 
er.  Among  the  m,n  from  Clinton  county  are  Levi 
Stockwell,  Samuel  Cook  and  John  A.  FerriJ,  which  are 
certandy  \A  estport  names  and  p.obably  those  of  men 
who  afterward  moved  into  town.  L.  tfus  pension  list 
1  l.iKl  Viestport  surnames,  like  Allen,  Barnes,  Cxood- 
speed,  Johnson,  Nichols,  Smith  and  Snow,  which  may 
indica-e  citizens  of  our  town,  but  which  I  hesitate  t'o 
claim  because  I  know  nothing  about  them. 

Humphrey  Sherman,  (ancestor  of  all  the  Shermans 
i>ow  hvmg  in  Westport,)  served  on  theNiagara  frontier 
a  pru.^  in  Capt.  Trowbridge's  company,  Lt.  Coi^ 
Heni.y  Bloom's  l.t  regiment,  Enlisted  at  Hector,  Sen- 
eca Ca,  Sept.  7,  1813,  discharged  at  Fo.t  Niagara 
^^■e.  1/,  1613.  He  afterward  moved  to  Essex, 'and 
then  JO  Westport.  He  ."as  a  brother  of  Nathan 
Miei^n,  who  settled  in  Moriah  and  was  the  ancestor 
o  the  Sherman  family  connected  with  the  iron  mines 
there. 

As  for  the  number  of  men  whom  we  sent  into  the 
held  during  this  war,  I  do  not  suppose  tiiat  we  had  at 
^^-  ti.ue  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  subject  to  militia 
duty.I  bavegiven  the  names  of  fifty  and  I  doubt  if  there 
were  many  more  wlio  actually  m.-trched  under  military 
oruers,   aside   from    tht.  drills  of  the  trainiu^^ln  s        " 


lUSTORY  OF  W?:STPORT  291 

Ira  Henderson  and  Satuucl  Andorsou  were  both  cotn- 
monlv  addressed  as  "Captain,"  but  this  does  not  seem 
to  have  been  in  either  case  a  military  title,  but  rather 
one  used  in  recognition  of  the  coraniand  of  sailing.';  ves- 
:5«>'ls«)n  the  lake.  Similarly,  the  tombstone  upon  which  is 
eafCapt.  Jacob  Llalstead"  mast  not  be  taken  as  evi- 
tlence  of  military  rank,  since  Jacob  Halstead  was  born  in 
1300,  and  tiierefore  only  a  boy  of  twelve  when  war  was 
ileclared,  but  he  afterward  owned  and  sailed  tlie  schoon- 
er Jt'Vo//. 

rievol\ilioiiai'\'  Soldiei'S. 

There  are  but  few  graves  of  men  who  fouglit  in  the 
War  of  Independence  to  be  found  in  Westport,  from 
the  fact  tl^iit  settlement  of  this  northern  region  did  not 
begin  until  most  of  the  Kevohuionary  soldiers  were  too 
old  and  too  tired  with  their  strenuous  lives  to  join  the 
■amy  of  the  pioneers.  Many  of  the  first  land-owners, 
like  riatt  Rogers,'^  Gen.  Woolsey  and  the  Platts,  had 
served  in  the  Continental  Line,  but  they  neither  lived 
nor  ditnl  here.  Our  most  distinguished  soldier,  of  the 
lievolution  as  well  as  of  the  second  war  with  Great 
Britaii^  WHS  Gen.  Daniel  Wright  whose  military  rec- 
ord has  already  been  given. 


•Piatt  Rogers  served  in  two  Dutchess  County  regiments.  Col.  BrinckerhoQ's  and 
Col.  Hopkins,  and  in  both  regiments  was  in  CapL  Brinckerhoflt's  company.  He 
had  a  nephew,  Ananias  Rogers  Sackett,  (son  of  his  sister  Mary,  who  married  Na- 
thaniel Sackctt.  mtinber  of  the  Council  of  Safety,)  who  was  also  in  Col.  Brincker- 
hoff's  rcg:i:nent,  Capt.  Van  Wyck's  company.  Piatt  Rogers  was  often  given 
the  title  of  Captain  in  our  local  records,  but  his  righ:  to  thiit  rank  I  cannot  prove. 
By  the  way,  Uhere  is  no  known  relationship  bi;tween  Fvobert  Rogers  the  Ranger  of 
the  old  French  war,  and  Piatt  Rogers  the  Road-iii.nker  of  Northern  New  York, 
Rogers  pond  and  Rogers  brook  in  Schroon  are  na:ned  alter  the  Road-maker,  from 
his  survey  of  the  road  patent  along  the  wcjt  shore  of  Sciiroon  lake. 


292  HISTORY  OF  WE  ST  PORT 

John  Greeley,  boru  1759,  died  1852,  fou<^'lit  at  the 
battle  of  Buuker  HiJl  as  a  boy  of  sixteen.  He  carno 
into  Westport  from  Brookfield  in  1828. 

Ebenezer  Durfee's  tombstone  declares  him  to  have 
^^•been  "a  soldier  of  the  Revolution." 

Samuel  Pangborn  died  in  this  town  in  1843,  and  the 
notice  of  his  deatli  in  the  Essex  County  Times  declares 
that  he  ^s■as  aged  80  years,  and  had  been  a  soldier  of 
the  Revolution,  fighting  at  Brandywine  and  Yorl:t«')wii. 
In  the  list  of  pensioners  after  the  war  of  1812  wo  find 
the  names  of  both  Samuel  and  David  Pangborn.  This 
family  seems  to  have  been  here  very  early,  as  one 
Joseph -Pangburn  was  made  pathmaster  at  the  first 
town  mei/ting,  in  1798. 

John  Whitney  served  in  the  Pievolution. 

It  is  very  likely  that  many  of  our  early  settlers  who 
were  old  enough,  like  Enos  Xjoveland  and  John  Hal- 
stead,  may  have  fouglit  the  battles  of  their  country  be- 
fore their  emigration,  but  in  the  absence  of  definite 
family  record,  it  is  a  long  and  toilsome  task  to  settle 
the  question  by  research. 


Ill  STORY  OF  WESTPORT  293 

Quoth  t'no  cedar  to  the  reeds  aud  rushes. 
^  '■^^ater-lJrrass,  you  know  not  what  I  do: 
Know  uot  of  my  storms,  uor  of  my  hushes. 

And — I  kuow  uot  you." 
Quoth  the  reeds  aud'rushes,  "Wind  !  O  waken  ! 
^  Breath,  O  wind,  and  set  our  answer  free  ! 
■  For  we  have  no  voice,  of  you  forsaken, 
For  the  cedar-tree.  " 

Quoth  the  hero,  dying,  whelmed  in  glory, 

•■:\Jany.  blame  me,  few  have  UDdcr5>tood  ; 
Ah.  my  folk,  to  you  I  leave  a  story. — 

Make  it.s  meanicq-  (/ood. " 
Quoth  the  folk.  "Sing,  poet !  teach  us,  prove  us  ; 

Sureh  we  shall  learn  the  meaning  then  ; 
TVound  us  with  a  pain  divine,  O  mo"-e  us.  ' 

For  this  man  of  men. '" 

— Jka.n  Incklow's  "Winstanley." 


Quoth  c>*rr  dead-and-buried  forebears,  Iviucr 

^^  Deep  iu  ancient  acres  of  the  town, 

"Look,  the  tombstones  that  our  children  o-ave  us 

Grudge  us  our  renown.  "^ 

Go.  aud  when  ve  find  a  heart  reflective, 

Where  the  thrill  of  kinship  shall  uot  fail, 
Of  the  lives  we  lived  within  your  borders  ' 

Tell  the  homely  tale."  ' 

C.  H.  R 


/? 


294  HISTORY  OF  WESTPOJiT 

YITI. 

1815  to  CiviJ  ^\"ar. 

After  the  war  the  town  settled  liack  into  its  old  life, 
the  same,  and  yet  not  the  same.  Men's  pulses  had 
•i^ieeu  quickened  by  a  call  to  action  which  had  wider 
reaching  consequences  than  the  daily  life  of  the  farm- 
er and  wood  chopper.  They  felt  themselves  of  the 
more  importance  since  they  had  been  called  on  to  fight 
battles  of  the  nation,  and  their  acquaintance  with 
the  older  civilization  of  the  seaboard  had  increased 
marvelously.  The  frontier  life,  "at  once  more  romantic 
and  more  sordid  than  on  the  civilized  seaboard,"  as 
Fiske  says  of  a  similar  condition,  had  become  in  mauv 
ways  less  sordid  and  perliaps  less  romantic.  After  the 
war  the  men  on  this  western  shore  of  the  lake  felt 
themselves  for  the  first  time  citizens  of  the  state  of  New 
York.  A  lai'ge  portimi  of  the  men  -who  fought  in  the 
war  were  born  in  New  England,  and  could  but  feel 
themselves  emigrants  not  long  from  home,  with  mem- 
ories and  sympathies  reaching  backward  to  the  old 
homes  which  seemed  so  much  nearer  than  New  York 
or  even  Albany.  Now,  with  the  growth  of  the  Repub- 
licaiyivjr  Anti-Federalist,  party  as  the  predominant  po- 
litical setitimfc>Dt  of  the  town,  the  last  link  that  bound 
them  to  Federalist  New  England  was  snap])ed.  Along 
the  Hudson  river,  fron)  the  days  of  the  first  Dutch 
comers,  New  England  had  been  considered  a  foreign 
country  and  its  people  aliens,  but  in-  the  Champlain 
A'allev  it  h;id  been  (^herv.ise.       Here,  and  esoeciallv  in 


JJl STORY  OF  WESTPORT  295 

Elizabethtown  and  Westpurt,  (which  had  not  the  pro- 
portion of  Dutchess  county  immigrants  found  farther 
to  the  nortliward,)  New  Enp^hmd  was  the  beloved  moth- 
er country  whicli  was  out-_G;rowu  rather  than  cast  off, 
as  tl>fe  development  of  the  town  progressed. 

Immigration  increased  after  the  war,  probably  in 
nearly  equal  proportions  from  the  east  and  south.  The 
necessar}'  facilitation  of  land  and  water  ways  for  the 
transportation  of  men  and  military  stores  from  the 
south  had  made  travel  from  that  direction  less  difKcult. 
Albany  was  nearer  after  the  war  than  it  had  been  be- 
fore it.  Commerce  had  been  helped  and  not  hindered 
by  the  necessities  of  the  war,  and  by  the  smuggling 
which  reached  its  heiglit  just  before.  The  industry  of 
boat-buildmg  had  increased  immense!}',  and  it  is 
said  tlnit  man}-  of  tlio  th'st  wharves  were  built  at  this 
time.  In  regard  to  Westport  this  has  been  impossible 
to  verify,  and  it  can  ouly  l)e  said  that  the  conjecture 
that  Charles  Hatch  built  our  first  wharf,  at  the  foot  of 
Washiugton  street,  during  the  war,  is  exceedingly 
plausible. 

Colonial  dress  and  customs  still  prevailed.  The 
spinning  \\^e(A  and  loom  were  in  every  household,  and 
homespun  was  the  universal  wear.  There  were  more 
log  cabins  than  frame  houses  in  town,  and  the  center 
of  evi-ry  home  was  the  great  chimney  with  its  fire- 
places. Soves  were  alunst  unheard  of,  and  all  the 
cooking  was  done  over  an  open  fire  or  in  a  brick  ov- 
en. Matches  were  not  yet  invented,  and  if  you  were 
so  careless  as  to  let   tlio  fire  die   out,    vou    must   light 


20G  HISTORY  OF  WE  ST  PORT 

it  again  with,  fliut  and  tiudor,  or  send  one  of  the 
children  to  the  nearest  neighbor  with  a  close  covered 
iron  kettle  in  which  to  briiif^'  liomo  some  coals.  The 
only  lights  were  tallow  candles,  letters  were  folded  and 
pealed  without  envelopes,  pins  were  just  beginning  to 
be  manufactured,  aud  thei'e  were  more  foreign  coins  in 
circulation  than  United  States  money,  but  not  much 
of  either,  as  nil  exchanges  of  value  were  made  by  the 
medium  of  barter.  The  difference  between  a  "York 
shilling"  and  a  "Vermont  shilling"  was  of  vital  import- 
ance to  reniea^ber,  as  the  former  was  twelve  and  one- 
half  cents,  and  the  latter  but  nine-pence,  and  accounts 
were  still  ke[)t  in  pounds,  shillings  and  pence. 

In  regard  to  the  means  of  communication,  early 
AVestp»rt  was  like  early  colonial  Virginia,— all  journeys 
were  made  on  horseback  or  by  water.  If  General 
Wright  had  occasion  to  go  to  Plattsburgh,  either  he 
calleil  the  horse  out  of  the  pasture,  saddled  and  mount- 
ed aud  rode  away,  or  he  went  down  to  the  lake  shore  at 
Northwest  Bay  or  at  Essex  and  fouud  some  sailing 
craft  which  would  take  him  thither.  Lake  travel  was 
easier  than  land  travel  and  more  full  of  interest.  Those 
were  tlip.  days  of  the  great  rafts  sent  into  Canada.  As 
Eobii^on  says:  "The  great  pines,  that  fifty  years  be- 
fore had  been  reserved  for  the  masting  of  his  Majesty's 
navy,  were  felled  now  by  hardy  yeomen  who  owed  al- 
legiance to  no  earthly  king,  and,  gathered  into  enor- 
mous rafts,  voyaged  slowly  down  the  lake,  impelled 
by  sail  and  sweep.  They  bore  as  their  burden  bar- 
rels of  pota-h  that  had  been  condensed  froni  the  ashes, 


in  STORY  OF  WEST  PORT  2U7 

(.)f  their  slaiu  bretlnvn."  Bales  of  fnvs  went  often,  too, 
and  when  the  raftsmen  came  back  on  sloop  or  schoon- 
er from  St.  John's  they  brouglit  salt  and  manufac- 
tured goods,   often  of  European  make. 

These-facts  give  us  an  outline  of  the  town  in  1815, 
when  the  division  was  made  between  the  present  towns 
of  Elizabethtowu  and  Westport.  That  it  was  neces- 
sary to  divide  the  town  shov/s  a  l:ir[;,e  increase  of  pop- 
ulation, with  the  corresponding^  rise  of  the  civic  spir- 
it. The  obvious  boundary  line  was  the  Black  river 
in  a  part  of  its  course,  with  the  mountainous  area, 
which  stretched  through  the  southern  part  of  the 
town  divided'  by  a  north-aud-south  line  drawn  from 
the  river  to  the  town  line.  The  Hon.  Charles  Hatch 
was  on  the  -tTommittee  of  division,  and  the  matter  was 
soon  settled.  That  the  settlement  at  North-west  Ba^' 
liad  already  become  the  commercial  centre  would  ap- 
])t:'ar  from  the  name  adopted.  The  legal  change  was 
made  March  2-1,  1815,  and  the  first  town  meeting  ofthe 
new  town  v,-as  held  "on  the  first  Tuesday  in  Ai)ril," 
at  the  house  of  Charles  Hatch,  which  stood  on  the 
site  of  the  large  brick  house  so  long  owned  by  F.  H. 
Page,  and  ii^w  by  D.  F.  Payne.  Hatch's  house  was  at 
that  time  Csed  as  an  inn. 

The  proceedings  of  the  town  meeting  were  entered  V)y 
tin-  clerk  in  a  large,  leather  bound  book,  bright  and 
new,  with  "Westjiort  Town  Records"  stam})ed  on  the 
back  in  neat  gold  letters.  It  was  "made  and  sold  (with 
the  old  fashioned  long  "s")  at  the  "Troy  Bookstore, 
Sign  of  the  Bible."       Nt-w  the  glaze  is  worn  from   the 


29S        •  lIlSrORY  OF  WEST  PORT 

lefitlier/  tliy  <'old  letters  are  tarDisljed,  one  cover  is 
loose,  and  the  old  book  no  loiif^er  represents  a  future, 
but  an  ever-receding  past.  It  was  in  use  until  1870, 
when  a  new  book  was  bought,  not  because  the  old  one 
was  full,  but  because  the  old -fashioned  paper,  made 
with  a  surface  adapted  to  the  use  of  quill  pens,  was 
very  difficult  to  write  upon  with  a  steel  pen.  The  most 
peiilous  period  during  tlte  life  of  the  old  town  book 
M'as  at  the  time  of  the  great  fire  of  1876,  when  the 
building  containing  the  town  clerk's  office,  (the  corner 
store,)  was  burned.  As  the  "town  has  never  provided 
a  safe  or  an  iron  box  for  the  keeping  of  town  records, 
it  was  only  a  chance  that  this  book  was  saved.  Per- 
haps the  next  tire  may  not  spare  it. 

Thi/is  the  tirst  entry  in  the  old  book,  v/ritten  in  a 
careful,  plain,  old-fashioned  hand,  with  ink  which  is 
faded  but  not  illegible. 


^Vo^;tpol■t  ToAvii  Re<'orcl>^. 

The  tirst  Town  Meeting  in  theTownofWcstport,  County 
of  Essex  and  State  of  New  York,  is  opened  at  the  house  of 
Charles  tiatoh  in  said  Town,  on  the  tirst  Tuesday  in  April; 
agreeabl;'  t(^  a  l^iiw  of  the  Le^-iskitnre  passed  IRIC*. 

1.  Vt^'tfd  Enos  Lovehind  Supervisor. 

2.  lf)uton  Lobdell.  Towd  Clerk. 

?t.  John  fxibdell,  Gideon  Hammond,  Diadorus  Holeonib. 
Assessors. 

4.  Levi  Fi'isby.  Collector.  (This  ofFice  he  held  until 
1828.) 

5.  Joseph  Stacy,  Charles  Haleh,  Overseers  of  thePoor. 
H.     Jesst^  I3rayman,  Gideon  Hammond,  Crosby  McKin- 

zey,  Commissioners  of  Highways. 

7.  Charles  Hateh.  Bouton  Lotidoll,  Diadorus  HoicduiI), 
Commlssiuucrs  of  Schools. 


IIISTOliV  OF  WEST  mm'  2f)0 

S.  Uriah  Pulnior,  Samuel  Cook.  Junr..  John  Lobdell, 
Inspfctors  of  Sc'hools. 

SK  Amos  Smith.  Jodiithaa  Barues,  Levi  Alexatider, 
Con-stables, 

U).  Elijah  Angier,  Daniel  Wright.  Silvanus  Kiutjsley, 
William  Denton,  Charles  Hatch,  Nathaniel  Hinklcy.  James 
Coll.  ['riah  Palmec.  Fence  Viewers. 

11.  f:iijiah  Angier.  William  Storrs,  Charles  Hatch.  Elij 
ah  Denton,  Poundniasters. 

VI.  Ralph  Walton.  Elijah  Dunton,  John  Ferris,  Junr.. 
Caleb  P.  Cole.  Thouias  Eniaioas.  Jesse  Hardey.  Sainiiel 
Denton,  Warren  'f^ar per,  John  Daniels,  ^rd,  WillianiSlorrs. 
William  Denton.  Elijah  Storrs,  Joseph  Stacy,  Harve\' 
Suamer,  Overseers  of  Highways. 

13.  To  Raise  Double  the  sum  allowed  by  the  State  for 
the  Supi.>ort  of  Common  Schools. 

14.  To  Raise  ten  Dollars  to  Purchase  Town  IJooks. 

].'■>.  To  Raise  twentv  Dollars  for  the  Support  of  the 
IV-r. 

1)1.  Horned  Cattle  Commoners  from  the  first  of  April 
till  the  first  of  November  no  Longer. 

17.  The  owner  of  a  Ram  Shall  pay  five  Dollars  that  lets 
iiini  Rnnat  largO'from  the  first  of  September  to  the  Mfteenth 
"'  November. 

15.  The  Town  Meeting  adjourned  to  the  house  of  Rou- 
tu;:  Lobdell.  the  first  Tuesday  of  April  lSl*i. 

Division  of  Hiy:hway  Districts  in  the  Town  of  Westport 
for  the  year  1815. 

No.  1.  iJegiuning  at  the  South  Line  of  the  Town  on  the 
Lake  Road  thenee  North  to  the  north  bank  of  .Mullins 
Hrool:.     (Ralph  Walton,  overseer.) 

2.  Nortii  to  south  end  of  the  first  Bridge  North  of  Coil's 
Miiis.  iticludi'^'  the  Road  west  to  Asa  A.  Andrews  as  far 
as  the  Sheari^n  Brook.     (Elijah  Dunton.) 

3.  Beginning  at  the  south  end  of  the  tiist  Bridge  North 
of  Cttll's  .dills  thenct."  North  to  the  South  Line  of  Holcomb's 
farm  Dicluding  Ijoth  Roads  to  widow  Barber's  ferry. 
(Joi)u  Ferris,  Jr.) 

4.  Beginning  at  the  south  line  of  Holeomb's  farm  theuee 
North  t(.»  the  two  n)ile  niarke  Between  N.  W.  iiay  and 
<\iats'  Mill  Including  the  Road  to  Es.sex  to  the  east.  (Calet. 
V   Cole.) 

.").      Line  of  the    Ft>!-ri>    li>t    DjcIudinL'-   the    Road    to    the 


300  IIISrORY  OF  WKSrrORT 

east  liue  of  Silvan  us  Kini^'sley's  oald   ticld.      (Thomas  Ein- 
inoifs.)    ^^^ 

1/  Be]Hunintr  at  the  East  line  of  the  Foi'ris  Lot,  theuc*' 
-North  tu  the  town  Hue,  Iacludin(,'  both  Roads  to  P'.xk 
harbor  and  the  Road  by  Obediah  \'aughan's  place  to  tho 
voad  that  Leads  from  Coats  Mill  to  N.  W.  E^av.  (Jesse 
Hardy.) 

7.  Betriuninij  at  the  two  Mile  mark  between  N.  W.  Bay 
and  Coats  Mills,  thence  North  to  the  Town  line,  Includiu:j- 
the  road  from  Bra-yniao's  east  to  the  Town  line.  (Samud 
Denton.) 

8.  Be(,nnuint,'  at  the  West  end  of  the  Bridge  at  Citats 
Mill,  thence  west  to  Elast  line  of  Joel  Finney  "s farm.  (Wai-- 
reu  Harper.) 

9.  Beginning  at  the  east  line  of  Silvaiius  Kingslev 
farm,  thence  westerly  on  the  New  Court  House  Road  to 
the  west  line  of  the  same,  including  the  Road  from  Sam  i 
Storrs  farm,  thence  north  to  Jonas  Morgan's  Barn.  In- 
cluding the  Road  from  Joel  Finney's  east  line  to  New 
Court  House  Road.     (John  Daniels,  3rd.) 

10.  Beginning  at  the  Town  line  near  Morgan's  New 
J'orge,  thence  East  to  the  Road  leading  from  Coats'  Mill  to 
Joel  Finney's.     (William  Storrs.) 

11.  Beginning  at  the  town  line  near  Abi'aham  Slaugh 
lers,  theace  easterl}  by  J.  Storrs  till  it  Intersects  th-- 
Court  House  FJoad  near  Silvauus  Kingsley  Including  the 
road  to  Eldad  Kellogg's.     (William  Denton.) 

12.  Beginning  at  the  town  line  near  Southwell's  Forge, 
thence  east  to  ihe  Bridge  west  of  ITalstead's  field,  ]nclua- 
iijg  the  road  by  Aaron  Bingham's.     (Eli^jah  Storrs.) 

li-i.  Beginiiing  at  the  Southwell  road  near  Abui-r 
Slaughter's,  thence  south  to  the  south  lineof  theL-Dw  frtrm. 
i««£?^Kiiug  the  road  bv  ilammond's  to  the  aforesaid  South- 
well road.     (Joseph  Stiicy.) 

14.  L5t\Lntining  at  the  Southwell  r»xid  near  Esq.  Love- 
laud's,  thence  easterly  bv  John  Nichokls  and  Stacys  till  it 
intersects  the  lake  road  near  Elijah  Duuton's.  (Harvev 
Sumner.) 

15.  Beginning  at  the  Crotch  of  the  Road  Between  Shar- 
inan's  and  Mullins  Brook,  thence  Northerly  by  George  H. 
Andrews  until  it  Intersects  the  Road  by  Joseph  Stacys, 
Including  the  road  from  Howard's  east  to  the  Sharmaiv 
Brook  including  thi.'  road  to  Danl.  MCot)lev. 

Signed  John  rv»!)d.-ll  and  (iideou  H.iuunoud. 

Coumiissiouers  of  Highwavs. 


HISTORY  OF  WSFTJ^ORT  :^01 

Tlieu  there  are  alterntious  of  old  roads  fuid  snvvcy 
Mils  of  ueu'/ oues,  with  the  suvveyors'  directions,  too 
tedious  to  ii?^**>aut,  signed  by  Samuel  Cook,  Jr.,  and  by 
Itliar  Judd  as  surveyors. 

Euos  LoveL\iid  was  already'  supervisor  of  the  nudi- 
\  idod  town  of  Elizabeth  town  at  the  time  of  the  division. 
}!o  had  been  supervisor  in  1809,  LSIO  and  LSll.  Then 
f^a-  two  years  Azel  Abel  fdled  tiie  office,  and  in  183-1 
Enos  Loveland  was  again  elected.  Bouton  Lobdell 
was  SlieritT  of  the  county  in  1815  as  well  as  our  town 
clerk.  He  and  his  brother  John  were  doubtless  sons 
of  Sylvanus  Lobdell,  first  clerk  of  the  town  of  Eliza- 
bet  htown, 

"Tl)e  new  court  house  road"  was  the  present  stage 
road  from  Westport  to  Elizabethtown.  It  would  seem 
tli;it  up  to  this  time  the  regular  route  to  Pleasant  Val- 
ley from  the  Bay  was  b}-  way  of  Meigsville.  Early 
roads  followed  high  ground,  avoiding  marshes  and 
.-<u  auips,  and  it  took  a  great  deal  of  corduroy  to  make 
the  present  road  passable.  Since  Enos  Loveland  lived 
on  the  most  travelled  road  to  the  county  court  house 
from  the  Bay,  his  house  was  much  more  accessible  for 
the  transa«i^^i  of  town  business  than  would  appear  at 
liist  thought. 

"The  road  from  Howard's"'  was  a  part  of  the  back 
road.  The  allusion  is  not,  I  think,  to  the  present  fami- 
ly of  Howards,  who  cnme  in  somewhat  later  from  Yer- 
mout,  but  to  a  "D<;acon  Howard"  who  came  from  the 
south  by  way  of  Pleasant  Valley.  July  12,  1817,  ^'Dea- 
<"on  Howard  and  wifL-"  i»re.sented  a  letter  to  the  bapti.^t 


:i02  HISTORY  OF  WKSTPORT 

clinrcli  wliich  was  accepted.  Xov.  12,  1817,  the  deatli 
o^  Bio.  Keiidrick  Howard  is  recorded  iu  the  cburcli 
bt^k.  On  Nov.  13,  1S19,  a  letter  from  the  church  "at 
Jamaica/"  (pr(iV)ably  on  LtMjg  Islaud,)  was  presented  l>y 
"Sister  rhihi  Howard."  Deacon  Howard  was  oftm 
njentioufd  after  this  in  ti>e  cliurcli  transactions,  until 
February  of  18-2'2  letters  of  dismission  were  given  '■Dea- 
con Howiird  and  wife  and  sister  Phila  Howard,"  indi- 
cating that  it  was  their  pnrpi)se  to  inove  away.  A  son 
of  this  Deacon  Howard,  Leland  Howard,  received  tli^ 
ilegi-ee  of  A.  M.  from  Middlebury  College  iu  1S2S,  and 
becan)e  a  ]3aptist  ujinister,  preaching  in  Troy  and  iu 
Ivutland.  James  Howard,  sou  of  Leland,  was  at  out^ 
time  Lieutenant  Governor  of  Connecticut. 

This  year  and  the  next  the  Angiers  came  iu  from 
New  Ham]pshire,  and  settled  iu  the  northern  part  of 
the  town,  near  the  Essex  line,  in  the  vicinity  of  "Angier 
Hill."  There  were  thrtn^  brotliers,  Calvin,  lillijah  anil 
Luther,  grandsons  of  Silas  Angier,  a  Iievolutionavy 
soldier." 


*Calvin  Angler's  first  wife  was  Betsy  Chandler,  of  Fitzwilliain,  N.  H.  bhc 
hati  one  (.hild,  E)!7.a,  who  afterward  married  Sylvester  Young.  The  second  wifr 
wri^l'olly  Dcnison,  from  Walpole,  .N'.  H.     Her  children  wt  re. 

i*^^'jncy  Lorame,  married  a  Hammond  and  lived  in  Ticonderog'a. 

2.     Willi.im  Denibon,  mirried  Amy  Reynolds. 

\.     Mary  Ann,  marnei!  Lorenzo  Gibhs. 

4.     Merlin  Ward,  married  Jane  Gihbs. 

klijah  Anjfier  was  tliriie  married.  His  first  wife  was  Orilla  Chandler,  and  her 
children  were  Calvin,  Lucy  and  Levi.  His  second  wife  was  Orissa  Char.d'.cr, 
prr^umably  tlie  .-is".er  of  Orilla,  and  she  had  no  children.  His  third  wife,  whom 
he  mirried  after  iumin)f  to  \Vestport,  was  N'arcissa  Loveland,  daiinhtcr  of  tnos, 
and  her  children  were  Onlla,  Charles,  Pcrrin,  Pcrsis  and  Salinda.  Mary  Jane 
and  Anson  died  in  infancy. 

Ihe  wife  of  Lulher  Angier  WIS  Sar.ih  Hiur.ly.and  th.-u  children  were  Eiu;ly 
Luther,  Aaron,  Gt;_or)jc,  M-irijaret  and  Allen. 


HISTORY  OF  WFSTFORT  :n>:-f 

1810. 

TowD  Meetinof  opened  agreeable  to  udjourumeDt  at  the 
houst''of  Bouton  Lobdell  ou  the  first  Tuesday  in  April, 
1S16.     -"'■ 

1.  Voted  Charles  Hatch  Supervisor. 

2.  Boutou  Lobdell,  Town  Clerk. 

H.    Jobii  Lobdell.  Joseph  Stacy,  Jesse  Braman,  Assessors. 

4.  Levi  Frisbie,  Collector. 

5.  Joseph  Stacey,  Enos  Loveland,  Poor  Masters. 

(1.  John  T>obdell.  Cideon  Hammond,  Joseph  Staeey, 
Coins,  of  Highways. 

7.  Charles  Hatch,  Samuel  Cook,  Jr.,  Bouton  Lobdell, 
Com.  of  Common  Schools. 

8.  Ivevi  Frisbie.  Araos  Smith,  Timothy  Sheldon.  Con- 
.stables. 

9.  Timothy  Sheldon.  Asa  A.  Andrews,  John  Lobdell, 
Euos  Loveland,  Jesse  Braman,  John  Weston.  Inspectors 
of  Common  Schools. 

10.  Timothy  Sheldon.  Elijah  Dunton.  Caleb  P.  Cole, 
Joseph  S':ac'ey.  Joel  Finney,  Daniel  Wric^'ht.  John  Weston. 
Enos  Loveland.  Fence  Viewers  and  Pound  Masters. 

U.  Amos  Panufborn.  Thomas  Dunton,  Geor^-e  B.  Reyn- 
olds. Thomas  Emmons.  Daniel  "Wrii^ht,  Jesse  Braman. 
Jtibn  Harper.  Joel  Finney,  John  Lewis,  Samuel  Storrs, 
En^)s  Loveland,  John  Strincrham,  John  Xicholds.  A.sa  A. 
Andrews.  Overseers  of  Hi (fh ways. 

12.  To  raise  double  the  sum  allowed  by  the  State  for 
the  suppoit  of  Common  Schools. 

\?>.     To  raise  twenty  Dolla-'s  for  tbo  Support  of  the  Poor. 

14.  Town  Meetintr  adjourned  to  the  house  of  Bouton 
Lobdell  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  April,  1S17. 

SurveyVf  the  road  from  the  house  of  Almon  Phillips  in 
the  town  a^Essex  to  the  upper  falls  in  the  town  of  Ticon- 
doro<ra.  acL-ordiUi:  to  an  act  of  the  Legislature  passed  in 
the  session  of  1.^14. 

The  ])oiuts  mentioned  are  Thomi)sou's  house,  Northwest 
Bay.  Duut)n's.  Deac()n  Uriah  Palmer's,  and  "'opposite 
Stot;e"s  house."  Surveyed  by  Jonathan  Wallis,  Jr..  1814. 
Signed  by  Charles  Hatch,  Levi  Thompson.  Ransom  Noble. 
Commissioners.     Recorded  March  20,  1817. 

I  aui  uot  sure  where  the  house  of  Boutou  Lobdell,  in 

^vliirli  llie  seeojjt.1  town  iijettiug  was  hold,  stood  iu  ISIG. 


:i04  U  J  STORY  OF  WESTPOIiT 

Lliave  been  tt:)ld  that  he  built  the  house  in  the  north 
part  of  the  vilhij^e,  at  the  top  of  the  "Mclntyre  liill,'' 
r^fwr  owneil  by  Dr.  Morse  of  Boston,  but  it  is  doubtful 
if  this  house  was  built  as  early  as  1810. 

The  summer  which  followed  this  town  meeting?  was 
known  as  "th.e  cold  summer,"  or  "eighteen  hundred  and 
starved  to  death,"  when  it  is  said  that  snow  fell  dur- 
ing every  month  of  the  year.  Some  accounts  motlify 
this  by  exeeptiuij;  August.  It  is  certain  that  it  was  a 
season  phenomenally  cold  and  dry,  with  an  almost  uni- 
versal failure  of  crops.  It  was  felt  through  all  New 
Englaud,  as  town  liistories  of  that  section  attest.  Al- 
most every  family  has  legends  to  relate  of  the  experi- 
ences of  that  year.  In  my  own  family  we  tell  the  story 
of  my  grandmother,  then  a  little  girl  seven  years  old, 
being  sent  out  into  the  garden  to  pick  green  currants 
in  the  snow,  because  a  snow  storm  had  fallen  after  the 
currants  were  formed,  and  it  was  plain  that  there  was 
no  use  wiiiting  for  the  fruit  to  ripen. 

In  this  year  the  lied  Bird  line  of  stages,  running 
from  New  York  to  Montreal,  was  established  by  I^eter 
Comstock,  and  marks  a  great  advarce  in  the  means  <:>f 
tiT'flCcJ.  State  aid  in  the  maintenance  of  the  princi[)al 
)OKds  followed,  and  W'estport  took  another  step  nearer 
the  seaboard. 

Not  until  March  2o  of  1810  did  the  Baptist  church, 
by  a  vc^te  of  its  members,  change  its  name  fioiu 
"Northwest  Bay  Church"  to  "First  Baptist  Church  of 
West])ort."  AjuI  at  almost  the  same  time  another 
churcii  was  formed  in  the  town.     It  began  as  the  Baj)- 


ni STORY  OF  WEsrroRr  soo 

tist  cliurc]i  had  begun,  as  a  necessity  for  the  spiritual 
life  r.f  settlers  from  older  communities  who  had  brought 
their  religion  with  them  when  they  came. 

Since  1796  this  region  had  formed  part  of  a  Metho- 
dist circuit,  with  a  fev.-  heroic  preachers  who  threaded 
the  wilderness  in  search  of  souls,  and  it  is  quite  likely 
that  Westport  had  been  visited  by  some  of  them  before 
this,  but  we  have  no  record  before  the  spring  of  1816, 
when  Moses  Amadou  was  sent  to  preach  in  the  south- 
ern part  of  the  town.  Here  the  most  stirring  and 
prominent  Methodist  was  Capt.  Levi  Frisbie,  not  at  all 
the  kind  of  man  to  hide  his  light  under  a  bushel, 
whether  the  business  on  hand  was  fighting  or  praying. 
\Yhen  the  first  class  was  organized  he  was  its  leader, 
and  there  were  but  four  other  members.  One  was  his 
wife,  Sally,  another  whs  Amy  Hatch,  wife  of  Charles 
Hatch,  and  there  were  also  Clara  Low  and  Lydia  Dun- 
ton.  Soon  after  were  added  John  Low,  Mrs.  Good- 
speed,  John  Ferris  and  Patience  his  wife,  Mrs.  Widow 
Martin,  Lucy  Lovcland,  v/ife  of  Erastus,  and  Betsey 
Farusworth,  daughter  of  Cliarles  and  Amy  Hatch. 
Most  of  these  people  lived  south  of  the  village,  except 
Mrs.  I'^ch  and  Mrs.  Loveland,  who  lived  at  Northwest 
Bay.  Preaching  was  in  the  school  house  on  the  lake 
road,  in  the  district  which  we  now  call  '"Graetre's,"  and 
sometimes  at  the  Bay,  as  we  find  the  next  year  that  the 
Baptists  gave  up  the  use  of  the  school-house  there  to 
their  Methodist  brethren  "one-eighth  of  the  time," 
which  is  supposed  to  mean  that  the  Methodists  expected 
the  circuit  rider  only  once  in  two   mouths.     The  social 


306  HISTORY  OF  WESTPORT 

ineetiugs  were  held  at  the  house  of  Captain  Frisbio,  a 
Jog  bouse  standing  where  the  stone  house  now  stands 
wj^ich  his  son  Levi  so  long  occupied,  at  Fisher's  Mill 
on  Mullein  brook,  and  at  Low's,  which  was  near  the 
place  where  Henry  Sheldon  now  lives.  The  early  quar- 
terly meetings  to  which  people  came  from  all  parts  of 
the  Ticonderoga  Circuit,  (which  "embraced  all  the 
country  south  of  the  top  of  tb.e  mountains  between  the 
Ansable  river  and  Willsborough  to  Lake  George,")were 
held  in  Captain  Frisbie's  barn,  and  afterward  in  the 
grove  in  the  village  just  north  of  the  Sherwood  cottage. 
We  know  that  in  September  of  ISIG  Captain  Amos 
A.  Durfey  was  on  board  his  sloop  CJio.m]tJai)i,  as  Sam- 
\\e\  Cook  had  afterward  occasion  to  make  afhdavit  (in 
a  case  where  it  necessary  to  prove  an  alii>i)  that  he 
went  with  him  to  Whitehall.  The  famous  lake  pilot, 
Phineas  Durfe}',  belonged  to  this  family  of  Westport 
Durfeys,  and  they  all  had  a  natural  love  for  the  water. 

1817. 

Town  .Meetiug  opened  agreeble  to  adjournment  in  the 
liuuse  of  Buutou  Lubdell  hi  said  town  on  the  first  Tuesday 
hjXVd.  1817. 

1.  Voted  John  Lobdell,  Supervisor. 

2.  IJoutuu  Lobdell.  Town  Clork. 

3.  Gideon  Hammond,  Timothy  Shelden,  Enos  Loveland, 
Assessors. 

4.  Gideon  Hammond,  Timothy  Shelden,  Jesse  Rraraan, 
Com.  of  Highways. 

5.  Levi  Ftisbie,  Collector. 

»•).     Enos  Lovoluud,  Jo.sepb  Stacey,  Poormasters. 
7.     Bouton  Loudoli.  Samuel    Cook,    Jr..    Diodoras    Hol- 
eomb,  Conunissiouers  of  Common  Schools. 


in  STORY  OF  WESTPORT  307 

8.  Levi  Frisbie.  Warren  Harper,  Charles  Fisher, 
Chuuies  B.  Hatch.  Coustables. 

9.  Jesse  Braman,  Daniel  Wrijrht,  Caleb  P.  Cole,  Sam- 
uel Cook,  Jr..  Timothy  Sheldeti,  George  H.  Andrews,  John 
Lobdell.  Samuel  Storrs,  Fence  VicvversaudPouud  ^Masters. 

10.  5>iiomas  Walton,  Thomas  Duutou,  Jr.,  Asa  Love- 
latad,  Jacob  Mathews,  Calvin  Angier,  John  Weston,  Sam- 
uel Denton.  Johnson  Hill,  Isaac  kna])p,  Amos  Smith.  Ly- 
man Smith,  David  Chandler,  John  Nichols,  George  H. 
Andrews,  Overseers  of  Highways. 

11.  To  raise  seventy-five  dollars  for  the  support  of  the 
poor. 

12.  Piatt  R.  Halstead,  John  Lobdell.  Enos  Loveland. 
Timothy  Shelden,  John  Weston,  Asa  A.  Andrews,  In- 
spectors of  Comnion  Schools. 

IH.  That  the  P.allance  due  of  ten  Dollars— Pvaised  in 
1S15  for  the  Purchase  of  Tow^o  Books  Being  three  Dollars 
t.t  thirty  four  cents,  now  in  the  hands;  of  Enos  Loveland. 
Ksqr..  be  applied  for  the  purchase  of  three  Locks  for  Elec- 
tion Boxes,  a-nd  residue  (if  any)  to  the  support  of  the  Poor. 

Oo  the  ni«^bt  of  Jauuary  15,  1817,  occurred  a  great 
domestic  calaiuitj,  and  one  which  occasioned  much  ex- 
citement in  tl)e  village.  It  was  the  burning  of  the 
house  at  Basin  Harbor.  The  first  liotise  stood,  like 
the  present  one,  in  full  sight  across  the  water,  and  I 
suppose  no  member  of  the  houscliold  of  John  Hal- 
stead  ever  rose  in  the  morning  without  turning  a  tirst 
outward  look  toward  the  old  home.  To  the  oldest  son, 
whose  «^h"th  place  it  had  been,  it  was  almost  more  a  home 
than  his  father's  house,  and  during  the  war  which  was 
only  three  years  in  the  past  his  most  vivid  experiences 
had  been  connected  with  it.  There  Commodore  Mac- 
donough  and  his  oflicers  had  sat  in  the  parlor  on  the 
seconil  Ihjor,  witli  their  wine  glasses  and  toijaceo,  while 
the  great  kitchen  below  was  filled  with  sailors  drinking 
thtjir  ale,  and  the  boyish  lieutenant  had  been  proud  to 


SOS  HISTORY  OF  WKSTl'ORT 

ilrittk  with  the  other  officers,  ami  to  feel  himself  a  part 
of -it,  all — that  potout  esprit  da  corp>i  seen  nowhere  else 
as  it  is  seen  in  army  life.  And  now  instead  of  the 
friendlv  glitter  of  windows  in  the  morning  sun,  he  saw 
a  colij"inn  of  smoke  lisiuj^  from  roofless  and  blackened 
walls,  and  knew  that  the  house  had  burned  in  theni^-^ht. 
It  was  only  four  miles  away,  but  the  lake  had  frozen 
thinly  over  the  day  before,  making  asheetof  ice  through 
which  it  was  impossible  to  force  a  boat,  while  it  was 
not  considered  strong  enough  to  bear  tlie  weight  of  a 
man.  But  tlie  occasion  was  desperate,  and  young  Hal- 
stead,  accompanied  by  another  man,  (Jacob  Pardee,  I 
think.)  put  on  his  skates  and  started  out.  They  agreed 
to  keep  a  long  distance  apart,  since  ice  which  will  bear 
the  weight  of  one  may  not  bear  the  weight  of  two,  and 
each  promised  that  if  one  broke  in  the  other  should 
not  stop  nor  go  near  him,  but  keep  skating  for  dear 
life,  as  the  only  safety  lay  in  swift  motion.  The  ice 
bent  under  them  like  leather,  but  they  went  like  the 
wind  and  got  across  in  safety.  Half  way  over  the  ice 
was  covered  with  ashes  and  cinders  blown  from  the 
ruins  of  the  burned  house,  and  as  he  skated  Halstead 
saw  H'^iing  past  him  a  charied  leaf  of  tire  great  family 
Bible,  whicli  he  had  turned  at  his  grandmother's  knee. 
The  house  and  its  contents  were  a  complete  loss,  the 
family  barely  escaping  with  their  lives.  Many  an  heir- 
loom went  up  iu  smoke  that  night,  and  niany  a  record 
which  has  never  been  replaced.  The  present  house 
was  built  npon  the  old  foundation  the  following  sum- 
mer, very  like  it  in  gentu'al  features,  and    with   a  great 


HISTORY  OF  WEST  PORT  r.OO 

chiinuej  and  fireplaces  which  havo  since  been  removed, 
T4^e  next  July  Presideut  James  Monroe  went  through 
the  lake,  taking  the  steamboat  at  Whitehall  and  arriv- 
ing at  Plattsburgh  on  Saturday,  July  27,  at  noon.  The 
Bteai?iboat  must  have  been  the  Phonx,  Capt.  Jahaziel 
Sherman,  the  second  steamboat  on  ilie  lake,  built  at 
Yergennes  in  1815.  Her  name  was  prophetic,  as  she 
was  burned  about  two  years  after  she  carried  the  Presi- 
dent. 

1818. 

Town  Meetioir  opened  agreeable  to  adjourumeul  at  the 
s(;hool  bouse  in  District  No.  'd  in  said  towu  on  the  7th  day 
of  April,  ISIS. 

1.  Voted  Johu  Lobdell.  Supervisor. 

2.  Boutou  Lobdell,  Town  Clerk. 

3.  Enos  Loveland,  Gideon  Ilammoud,  George  H.  An- 
drews. Assessors. 

4.  Levi  Frisbie,  Collector. 

5.  Enos  Loveland.  Joseph  Staecy ,  Ovei'soers  of  the  Poor. 
().     John  Lobdell,  Gideon  Hammond,  Timothy    Shelden, 

Com.  of  Highways. 

7.  Boutou  Lobdell,  Diodoras  Holcomb,  Samuel  Cook. 
Jr.,  Com.  of  Coinnion  Schools. 

8.  Alexander  Spencer,  Johu  Lobdell,  John  Wcstou, 
Daniel  W.  .Stiirtt- vaut,  Timothy  Shelden,  Enos  Loveland, 
Inspectors  of  Cominou  Schools. 

0.  ^Yalle^■^V.  Kellogg.  Levi  Frisbie,  Charles  Fisher. 
Con  stay  OS. 

10.  5\:iot]iy  Shelden,  Joseph  Stacey.  George  B.  Reyn- 
olds, Calviu  Aagier,  Samuel  Storrs,  Piatt  R.  Halstead. 
Fence  Vievirers  and  Pouad  Masters. 

n.  Jesse  Jones,  John  Sliarman,  James  W.  Call.  John 
Ferris,  Jr.,  Amos  Culver,  Elijah  Angier,  Jesse  Bramau, 
Augustus  Hill.  Johu  Kiugsiey,  Isaac  Kuapp,  Josei»n 
Storrs,  Eli  Ferris,  Johu  Chandler,  Cyrus Eiichards,  Joseph 
Stacey,  Jr.,  Overseers  of  Highwavs. 

iL'.  That  Fence  Viewers  and  Pound  Masters  have  sev- 
t-nty  ceul.-^  pt-r  day. 


:^]()  JIISrORV  OF  WESTroRT 

lo.  To  raise  double  the  sum  ullovved  for  tbo  support  of 
coiumoii  s.eh(x>ls. 

"^lA.     To  raise  oue  hundred  dollars  for  the  su[)port  of  the 
poor. 

]o.  Touii  Mectiiii^f  adjourned  to  the  school  house  in 
Disl.  No.  >\  in  said  To^'iion  the  tirstTuesday  in  April,  ISll*. 

"^•^J^e  "school  house  in  District  No.  3"  was  at  North- 
west Bay,  aud  stood  on  the  south  side  of  the  bridge,  on 
the  place  where  Low  Fuller's  house  now  stands.  It 
was  the  largest  public  buildiui;;  then  in  town,  and  was 
used  not  only  iov  town  meeting,  but  for  the  Sunday 
seivices  and  business  meetings  of  both  churches. 

Nothing  more  tiresome  can  be  conceived  than  the 
literary  style  of  the  descriptioub  of  the  highway  dis- 
tricts in  the  town  book,  but  man}-  interesting  facts  can 
be  gleaned  from  them  nevertheless.  This  year  we  find 
mention  of  "Braman's  ;^Jill,"  which  seems  to  have  been 
called  "Coats'  Mill"  in  1815,  ff)r  no  reason  that  I  can 
discover.  The  place  is  called  invariabh  l^raman's 
Mills  after  this  until  182-2,  when  we  find  "Wadham's 
and  Braman's  Forge,"  and  shortly  afterward  ^Yadll;un's 
Mills,  a  name  which  still  endures. 

AYe  tind  also  "Brayuard's  barn"  and  "Braynard's 
Forge"  as  landmarks  this  year,  and  "Hatch's  wharf," 
the  first  mention  of  a  wharf  in  tlie  records,  though  we 
believe  it  to  have  been  built  some  years  before  this 
time. 

lu  July  of  1818,  the  body  of  General  Eichard  Mont- 
gomery, who  was  kiiletl  at  tlie  attack  uf)on  Quebec,  on 
the  last  day  of  the  year  1775,  and  who  was  buried  near 
the  ramparts  of  that  city,  was  carried   from    Quebec   to 


JILSTOR}'  OF  WE  ST  PORT  311 

New  York,  and  giveu  its  final  burial  in  St.  Paul's 
ehurchjarcl.  Sa3-s  Watson,  "The  remains  of  Mont- 
gomery were  borne  through  the  country,  accompanied 
\>y  ever}'  exhibition  of  love  and  reverence."  The  fu- 
neral train  passed  up  the  lake  on  the  Fheniv,  draped 
with  the  tiappiugs  of  woe  and  the  insignia  of  the  state, 
with  ilags  floating  at  half  mast,  as  we  now  see  the  line 
boat  on  similar  occasions.  Forty-three  years  had 
passed  since  Montgomery  and  his  army  went  down  the 
lake  to  Canada,  and  at  that  time  there  was  no  village 
in  Northwest  Bay,  and  no  eye  save  that  of  deer  or  wolf, 
ghiucing  out  of  the  thicket,  to  see  the  advance  of  the 
army.  A  few  souls  there  were  at  the  Puiymond  settle- 
ment, to  be  driven  away  the  next  year,  never  to  return. 
Now  the  Champlain  valley  had  changed  marvelously, 
with  farms  and  villages,  and  a  pushing,  fearless  life  of 
industry  on  both  land  and  water. 

This  year  four  Westport  men  received  the  appoint- 
ment of  Justice  of  the  Peace:  Bouton  Lobdell,  Enos 
Loveland,  John  Lobdell  and  Gideon  Hammond.  Jus- 
tices were  not  yet  elected,  but  appointed  by  the  Coun- 
cil of  Appointment  sitting  at  Albany. 

Isaac  Stone  came  from  Cavendish,  Yt.,  and  settled 
on  the  lake  road,  on  Bessboro,  on  the  farm  so  long 
owned  by  his  son  Granville,  and  which  has  been  only 
recently  sold  out  of  the  family.  On  this  farm  is  the 
stoue  quarry. 

1819. 

Town  Meetioi,'  opened  agreeable  to  adjourLuneut  at  the 


•Vi?  HISTORY  OF  WKSTI'ORT 

school  house  ia  District  No.  ?>  in  the  Said  Town  ou  the  Gth 
da'V  of  April,  181!». 

1.  \'oted  Johu  Lobdell,  Supervisor. 

2.  Ebeuczer  Newell,  Town  Clerk. 

3.  Gideon  Hammond,  Enos  Lovcland,  Georo^e  H.  An- 
drews. Assessors. 

4.  Levi  Frisbie,  Collector. 

5.  Enos  Lovelund.  Joseph  Stacey,  Overseers  of  the 
l^oor. 

6.  Joel  Burrow^s,  Timothy  Shelden.  Jesse  Bramau. 
Com.  Hiirhwavs. 

7.  Samuel  Cook,  Jr.,  Diodorus  Ilolcomb,  Charles  B. 
Hatch,  Com.  of  Schools. 

8.  Enos  Lovcland.  John  Lobdell,  Gideon  Hammond. 
Alexander  Spencer,  Elijah  Storrs,  Joel  Burrows.  Inspec 
tors  of  Schools. 

9.  Levi  Frisbie,  Walter  W.  Kello<:g,  Charles  Fisher, 
TUlinghast  Colo.  Constables. 

10.  Timothy  Shelden,  Jra  Henderson,  Cajeb  P.  Cole. 
Elijah  Dunton,  Samuel  Storrs,  Joel  Finney,  No.^ton  Noble, 
Elijah  Storrs,  Daniel  Wrii^ht,  Joel  BCirrows,  Fence  View- 
ers. 

n.     Charles  Hatch,  Pound  Master. 

VI.  Daniel  P.  Lock,  Charles  Wood,  Elijah  Dunton.  Til- 
linghast  Cole,  Charles  Hatch.  Henry  Thatcher,  Daniel 
Wright,  Joseph  Hardy,  Sanjuel  Denton.  Samuel  Storrs. 
John  Daniels.  Hrd.  Johnsou  Hill.  Lyman  Smith,  John 
Chandler.  Harvey  Stone.  Johu  Shcai'man.  Jr.,  Overseers 
High\.  ays. 

Voted  tu  raise  ten  dollars  to  build  a  pound  thirty  feet 
square,  si.K  feet  high,  to  be  paid  to  Charles  Hatch.  Esqr.. 
he  tiuding  ground  to  Sett  said  pound  on,  with  a  good  door 
and  loek. 

To  raise  double  the  sum  for  the  use  of  schools  that  we 
receive  from  the  state. 

To  raise  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for  the  support 
of  the  poor. 

That  the  (jverseers  of  the  pcK)r  be  authorized  to  hire  a 
bouse  for  the  benetit  of  the  poor. 

It  will  liave  been  observed  that  the  sum  raised  yearly 
for  the  support  of  the  poor  steadily  increased,  from 
twenty  dollars  in  ISlo  to  one  hundred  and  til'ty  in  1811> 


u [STORY  OF  wKsrroirr  :u:i 

.-liowiuij;  a  large  increase  of  population.  At  this  time 
each  town  assumed  the  entire  care  of  its  paupers,  the 
tust  move  toward  adopting  the  plan  of  county  sup])ort 
of  tlie  poor  being  made  in  1S18,  and  the  county  house 
built  in  1S33. 

This  year  Ezra  Caitor  Gross  was  our  llepreseutative 
in  Congress.  He  was  the  young  lawyer  associated  with 
^\'illiauJ  Ka}-  in  the  editorship  of  the  Ri'veUh  iu  1812, 
and  his  daughter  afterward  taught  in  the  Academy  here. 

This  year  the  old  system  of  making  the  fence  view- 
ers also  pound  masters  with  the  duty  of  keeping  stray 
animals  in  their  own  barnyards  until  reclaimed  by 
tliiir  owners,  was  changed,  and  one  pound  master  ap- 
pointed for  the  whole  town.  The  pound  was  to  be  built 
at  Northwest  Bay,  wliicli  shows  the  relative  importance 
of  that  place  at  this  time.  That  the  village  was  grow- 
iiiL;  rapidly  is  also  siiown  by  the  fact  that  in  this  year 
the  northern  part  of  it  was  mapped  into  streets  and  lots. 

When  Charles  Hatch  came  in  1802  he  settled  just 
outside  the  limits  of  the  Ananias  map,  drawn  to  facili- 
tate the  sale  of  John  Halstead's  land.  Some  time  af- 
terward he  bought  the  corner  lot  at  the  top  of  the  lake 
hill,  and  there  built  the  first  store,  which  was  for  a  long 
time  the  only  one  in  tlie  township.  His  dealings  pros- 
pered, and  iu  seventeen  years'  time  he  had  beconje  pos- 
sessed of  the  greater  ]iart  of  the  land  north  of  the 
territoVy  of  the  Ananias  map,  and  seeing  that  there  was 
a  demand  for  village  lots,  he  employed  Diadorus  Hoi 
cond>,  who  seems  io  have  tidded  to  his  ujedical  ed\ica- 
iiiiji  a  knowledge  of  surveying.   t'.»   maj)   out    the  laud. 


314  iifSTORV  OF  wi:sTrc)irr 

The  map  wliich  was  drawn  Las  passed  tliiougb  uianv 
bands,  and  has  had  one  or  two  thrilling  escapes  from 
destruction,  but  is  still  preserved  entire,  and  an  exact 
copy  now  hangs  in  the  village  Library.  The  original 
map  was  drawn  with  a  quill  pen  on  heavy  paper,  and 
backed  with  cloth.  It  is  made  in  two  parts,  called  Map 
No.  1  and  Map  No.  2,  the  tirst  extending  from  Wash- 
ington street  to  the  brook,  and  the  second  from  the 
brook  to  the  north  line  of  the  lot  upon  which  stood  the 
old  Richards  House,  now  burned.  At  the  right  of  th-^ 
map  is  the  following  descri{)tion. 

At  the  request  of  Charles  f^ateh,  Esqr.,  1  have  surveyed 
ov  laid  out.  cornered  and  numoered.  on  the  west  side  of 
Lake  Champlaiu.  adjoining  Xoi-tb  West  Bay.  in  the  Town 
of  West  Port,  County  of  BIssex  and  State  of  New  York,  the 
lots  of  laud  and  streets  herein  laid  down  and  marked, 
a^jreeable  to  .Mao  Number  Fi)-st  and  Second. 

The  courses  of  the  lots  are  known  by  the  courses  of  the 
streets  thereon  written.  Washiutjton  Street.  Main  Street, 
l^leasant  street  and  North  Street  are  sixty-six  feet  wide. 
Water  Street,  Charles  Street  and  East  Street  are  thirty- 
three  feet  wide.  P^ach  lot  not  otherwise  described  is  a 
regular  oblong' square,  being  fifty  feet  in  front  and  rear 
and  one  hundred  feet  deep.  Those  lots  which  vary  ar-^ 
marked  in  feet  on  the  line  thus  varyintr.  Each  lot  is  cor- 
nered with  a  red  cedar  stake. 

Those  lots  on  Map  No.  1st  east  of  Main  Street  are  cor 
mued  or  numbered  on  the  .south  west  corner.  Tiiose  lo's 
on  Ma[)  No.  2nd  west  of  East  Street  are  numbered  on  ti;e 
north  wfst  corner.  Those  east  of  East  Strei^t  are  num- 
bered ou  the  .south  east  corner. 

Being  tifty-eit^ht  lots  ou  Map  No.  Ist.thirty-twt)  ou  Mu[> 
No.  2n'i.  amounting  to  ninety  lots  iu  all.  Both  Maps  ari^ 
laid  to  a  scale  of  ei;zlity  feet  to  an  inch. 

Perfornu'fi  .\ui,'ust  2r>th.  IKllt.  by  Diodorus  Holomb. 
Surveyor. 

Here  we  have  four     new     streets    named.    Pleasant. 

N'jrth,  CharK's  and  F-ast,,  and  on  the  uKip  itself  we  tind 


lilsToiiY  OF  wi:.stj'()/:t  :uo 

^lill  Street,  runuiiii^  from  the  brid^^e  to  tlio  "old  stoiio 
mill,"  wliich  was  perhaps  the  New  Stone  Mill  tliat 
year,  though  Henry  Holcouib  thought  that  hn  chhiM 
reineujber  before  it  was  built,  and  as  he  was  only  three 
years  old  when  the  map  was  drawn,  it  would  be  reas- 
onable to  date  its  ei'eetion  no  earlier  than  18'25.  It  was 
a  grist  Diill,  as  the  mill  stones  still  in  nidi  will  prove, 
atid  bo;its  loaded  and  discharged  their  freight  at 'the 
wljarf  below  it,  the  ruins  of  which  can  still  be  seen  at 
low  water.  The  roof  a]id  chimney  of  the  mill  did  not 
fall  in  until  the  summer  of  1900. 

If  the  mill  .was  not  l>uilt  in  1819,  it  is  plain  from  the 
name  and  direction  of  Mill  street  that  Squire  Hatch 
had  ah'ead^'  planned  it.  He  had  also  laid  out  a  tier  of 
lots  between  Water  street  and  the  lake,  which  can  have 
had  no  value  except  as  possible  places  to  build  wharves. 
Another  new  stieet  was  laid  out,  named  Charles  street, 
undoubtedly  in  honor  of  Charles  Hatch  liimself,  run- 
jiing  east  and  west  just  south  of  tlie  M.  E.  church,  1 
.-^houhl  think,  and  up  the  hill  [last  Mr.  Andrew  Daniels, 
wljich  was  nevL-r  opened.  Anotlier  street  whose  name 
is  entirely  sti-auge  to  the  ])reseut  generatit)ti  was  East 
street,  wliich  ran  ah^ng  the  western  bank  of  the  brook 
toward  its  mouth,  turning  in  at  the  west  of  the  bridge. 
^\"heu  the  map  was  drawn,  this  street  gave  acce.ss  to  a 
mill  whicli  stood  on  the  bank  of  the  brook  below  the 
bridge. 

Pleasant  and  North  are  two  of  our  principal  stieets 
now,  one  running  to  the  west  and  the  other  to  the  north 
/)-oin    tl.ie   bi'iilge.      Since    the   buililing   of    the   lailroad 


:iio  lusroNY  OF  wEsrroirr 

Pleasant  street  has  come  t()  be  spokeu  of  as  "Depot 
street,"  but  surely  it  is  a  pity  not  to  use  the  old  names, 
since  they  are  all  such  gooil  ones.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
I  suppose  there  are  hardly  ton  people  in  town  who 
kuow  the  location  of  Wasliintiton  or  of  Pleasant  street, 
or  can  tell  when  they  were  named,  or  by  whom, — })er- 
adveuture  there  may  not  be  five  to  whom  the  informa- 
tion to  be  obtained  from  this  old  map  will  not  be  en- 
tirely new. 

Judge  Hatch  (he  was  appointed  Judge  of  the  Court 
of  Common  Pleas  in  1814/seen)s  to  have  owned  all  the 
land  of  this  map  with  the  exception  of  three  large  lots. 
One  of  these,  lying  just  south  of  the  bridge,  on  the  east 
side  of  Main  street,  is  marked  "Win.  S.  McLoud's  Lot," 
and  then  across  it  in  another  hand  is  written  "Porter 
Lot."  On  North  street,  where  the  Pvichards  House 
afterward  stood,  is  "Ira  Henderson's  Ijot,"  and  along 
the  brook  above  the  bridge,  where  most  of  the  mills 
stood  at  that  tiuu%  lie  "B.  Merrick's  Lots."  This  must 
mean  that  Barnabas  ^lyrick  had  already  bought  land 
here.  He  was  at  this  time  a  young  uian  of  twenty-four. 
He  afterward  built  the  large  white  house  on  North 
street,  with  its  pillared  porch  in  two  stories,  looking 
toward  the  lake,  and  he  owned  and  operated  a  saw 
mill,  tannery  and  ashery  at  Northwest  Bay,  as  well 
as  forges  on  the  lUack  river  and  at  Wadhams. 

As  we  have  seen,  three  streets  named  on  these  old 
maps  are  not  now  in  existence,  excopt  that  part  of  Wa- 
ter street  which  extends  north  from  the  steamboat 
wharf.     It  is  evident  that  these  earliest   map    makers 


jiistohy  of  wsiyrroirr  :ut 

lujlicNfd  tLat  the  future  jj;ro\v{h  of  the  village  would  be 
!nuch  closer  to  the  water's  edge  tliau  was  actually 
the  case,  and  sites  for  wharves  were  more  ljif];lily  valued 
thau  has  since  been  justified  by  the  develoj)njent  of 
tiie  town. 

Liberty  street  was  not  opened  until  \^\-A\,  nor  the 
short  street  which  connects  it  with  Washiupiton.  The 
stiet>t  which  runs  west  from  the  old  Douglass  wharf, 
now  owned  b}'  D.  F.  Payne,  was  not  opened  until  after 
1825,  and  the  streets  north  and  west  from  the  Marks 
cottage  still  later.  None  of  these  later  streets  has  ever 
received  a  name,  except  the  one  opened  in  1889,  at  the 
same  time  of  the  opening  of  Oklahoma  Territory  to 
white  settlement,  which  was  therefore  popularly  desig- 
nated as  Oklahonni,  and  is  still  known  by  that  name. 
A  committee  of  citizens  to  choose  suitable  names  for 
the  streets  opened  since  the  making  of  Hatch's  map, 
would  do  a  public  service  for  which  future  generations 
might  well  thank  them,  provided  that  the  names  se- 
lected were  appropriate,  pleasing  in  sound,  not  too 
rommon,  and,  if  possible,  suggestive  of  persons  or 
events  influential  in  Westport  history. 

No  map  of  the  village  seems  to  have  been  drawn  from 
1810  to  1870,  when  the  large  atlas  of  E^sex  county  was 
published  by  O.  W.  Gray  c^-  Sc^i,  Thila.  The  latter 
shows  the  village  as  it  was  just  before  the  tire  of  1870, 
nnd  is  consequently  of  the  greatest  value. 

Town  UieerifiLT  iii'Ui  af  the  seho(»I  house  in  District  No.  H, 
April  4. 


:us  iiisToin'  OF  WKSTJ'uirr 

Charles  Hatch,  Supervisor. 

Kbeuezer  Ntnvoll.  Clork 

John  r^>bdell,  (iidoon  Hammotui.  Joseph  Stacey.  Asses- 
sors. 

Lovi  Frisbio,  Collector. 

Eno.s  Lovolund  and  Joseph  Sta(^ev,  Pooniuisters. 

Joel  Earrouifhs,  Jesse  Braiiian,  Timothy  bheldoii,  Com- 
riiisioncrs  of  IJi<:lnvays. 

Diadorus  Uolcoinb"  Charles  B.  tfatch.  Piatt  R.  Halstead, 
Coiiiniissiouers  of  Commou  Schools. 

Leman  Bradley,  Harry  Stooe.  Joel  Biirroii^bs.  lDs[)ei-- 
tors  of  Schools. 

Levi  Frisbie.  Rufus  Ashley.  Walter  W.  Kello^i,''.  Cousta- 
bles. 

Joel  Biirroutfbs,  Jesse  Braman.  Charles  Hatch.  James 
Coll,  Joseph  Stacey.  Piatt  Sheldou,  EaosIx>veland,  Samuel 
Storrs,  I'ence  Vie^"ers. 

Charles  B.  Hutch,  Pound  Master. 

Overseers  of  Highways. — AppoUos  Williams.  Piatt  Shel- 
dou. Isaac  Stone,  Jesse  Mooers.  Aj,a  Lyon.  Samuel  Chan- 
dler. Henry  Royce,  Francis  Hardy.  William  Storrs,  John 
Lobdell.  John  Chamberlain,  Walter  W.  Kello^jf":,  Enos 
Ti.)Veland.  Gideon  Hammond.  Harry  Stone.  Abel  Culver. 

Survey  of  the  Alteration  in  the  road  leadincr  from  ColTs 
Mills  to  the  Ferry,  the  Alteration  betjiuning  nearly  op- 
posite the  Hou.>>e  now  occupied  by  Daniel  Johnson.  (Sur- 
veyor's directions) —uotil  it  intersects  the  old  road  a;jain 
nrar  the  top  of  the  hill  east  of  Odie's  Bay. 

This  j-ear  a  beij;inuiu<^  was  made  at  recortliug  iu  th^^ 
tdwii  book  the  earmarks  used  V)y  tlie  farmers  as  .i 
mt.'aiis  of  identifying;  their  cattle  and  sjieep.  The  niost 
that  the  farmers  of  tli(~)so  days  could  do  was  to  fence 
tlit'ir  cleared  and  plowed  haul,  while  their  ])astures 
stretched  unfouced  as  far  as  tho  forest  itself  extended. 
Yonnj];  cattle  and  slieej)  were  often  turned  put  in  the 
spring  and  left  to  r-i.-un  all  sninracn-  in  this  common 
pastur;ige.  In  the  fall  the  farmer  drove  in  all  his  stock, 
and  in  oriler  to  separate  his  own  frtnu    his   neii/Jiliors, 


iiiSToiiY  OF  WEsrronr  :uo 

(listiiif^uisliiiig  marks  were  necessary.  In  tlif  west  of 
■to-ilay  the  cow  boys  brand  tlieir  stock,  but  in  the  east- 
ern colonies  "earmarks"  made  with  a  sharp  knife,  were 
used,  and  it  was  common  to  record  them  in  the  town 
books.  ]-*erhaps  the  custom  wjis  becomlnf^j  obsolete, 
for  only  one  ear-mark  is  here  recorded,  though  a  large 
sjtace  was  left  at  the  back  of  the  book.  This  was  ''Eli- 
jah Angler's  IMark,  A  Cross  of  the  Left  Ear." 

In  this  3'ear,  1820,  there  were  large  additions  to  both 
churches,  and  a  general  revival, followed  by  years  of  in- 
creased prosperity.  The  presiding  elder  of  the  Ticon- 
dcroga  Circuit  ^vas  then  John  B.  Strattou,  and  Jame.s 
Level,  preacher.  In  the  history  of  tlie-M.  E.  Church, 
prepared  In-  tlie  liev.  J.  E.  Bowen,  to  which  T  am  en- 
tirely indebted  for  facts  concerning  this  church,  men- 
tion is  made  of  these  names  added  in  1820:  Sally  Fris- 
bie.  (daughter  of  Levi  Frisbie,)  Mrs.  James  ]Mclntyre, 
Joshua,  Susan  and  Kate  Sniith,  jind  Nathaniel  Allen 
and  wife,  the  last  two  received  by  letter.  In  the  Bap- 
tist church  the  preacher  was  Elder  John  S.  Carter, 
from  Addison,  Yt.,  v/ho  was  the  first  settled  pastor  of 
the*  church.  The  year  behne,  the  Bajitist  church  had 
voted  to  build  a  parsonage,  and  this  year  a  committee 
w;(s  ajtpointed  t*)  carry  on  the  work,  Edward  Cole,  Dia- 
dorns  Holcomb  and  Enos  Loveland.  Thus  it  is  ju-ob- 
ahh'  tliNt  at  this  time  the  lunise  was  bailt  which  served 
a-  the  Baptist  parsonage  until  about  twenty  tive  years 
HL.'o.  It  stands  on  Main  street  and  is  now  owned  by 
Mrs.  Marian  Sherman.  Both  churches  still  held  jniblic 
x-rvict*  in  the  school  honst-. 


r.20  IIJSTOHY  OF  WKSTl'ORT 

The  year  of  1820  was  welcoinod  by  a  New  Year's  Bull 
"at  Esquire  Newell's,"  which  moans  at  the  house  of 
Elienezor  Newell,  who  was  a  Justice  of  tlie  Peace,  auJ 
who  lived  ou  PleasaDt  street.  That  it  was  quite  a 
social  eveut  is  shown  by  the  fact  tluit  a  nuiuber  of 
chuvcl^  members  were  present,  their  action  sternly 
deprecated  by  tlie  ascetic  New  England  reli^iiious  sen- 
timent,- with  its  horror  of  dancinr;,  which  was  rapidly 
risiufT  with  the  iuereaseof  church  influence  in  the  place. 

Settlers  were  coining  in  all  the  time  from  the  New 
England  states.  In  1S20  John  Hodgkins  came  from 
Chai-leston,  N.  H.,  and  settled  ou  the  Boqiiet  iu  tlie 
southeast  corner  of  Lewis,  just  across  the  town  line. 
His  wife  was  Diautha  Prouty,  and  they  had  six  chil- 
dren, John  F.,  Lavina,  Kichard  M.,  Edmond  O..  Lewis 
AV.,  and  Samuel.  Edmond  O.  Ilodgkius  was  deacf^u 
and  trustee  of  the  Congregational  church  at  Wadhams 
for  years.  Three  of  his  sons,  Samuel  H.,  Frank,  and 
Ezra  K.,  are  now  prominent  business  men  in  West- 
port,  Samuel  H.  Hodgkins  being  the  present  supervisrir. 

There  is  a  reminder  of  the  social  condition  of  the 
times  in  the  fact  that  in  1820  Commodore  Barron  shot 
Commodore  Decatur  in  a  duel.  Duelling  was  still  sa- 
credly observed  among  ofaoers  of  the  army  and  navy, 
and  was  not  unknown  among  civilians. 

Town  uveetiu£:  held  iu  the  school  house. 
(Jideon  tlaminond,  Supervisor. 
Ebene/.er  Newel!,  Town  clerk. 

Tmiuthy  Sbehu.m.  .lobii  Luixlell  and  Calvin  Augier.  As- 
nessors. 


-  iiiSTORy  OF  WKSTi'oirr  321 

Levi  Frisbie,  Collector. 

Charles  Hatch  and  Caleb  P.  Cole,  Poor  Ma<^ters. 

Joc-l  Burrows,  Jesse  Bramaa  and  Charles  Fisher,  High- 
way Commissioners. 

Edos  l^veland.  Charles  B.  Hatch  and  Ira  Henderson, 
School  Commissioners. 

Leman  Bradley,  Piatt  R.  Halstead  and  Asa  Lyon,  School 
Inspectors. 

Levi  Frisbie,  Walter  W.  Kellogg,  Piatt  R.  Halstead.  Dl- 
adorus  Hulcomb  and  Rufus  Ashley,  Constables. 

Fence  Viewers. — Joe!  Burrows,  Jesse  Brarnan,  Charles 
Hatch,  James  \V.  Coll.  Joseph  Stacy,  Piatt  Sheldon,  Enos 
Loveland  and  Samuel  Storrs. 

Overseers  of  High  ways. -Joseph  Ormsby.  Timothy  Shel- 
don, Crosby  Mclveuzie.  Asa  Loveland,  Caleb  P.  Cole, 
Asabel  Lyon,  Luther  Augier,  Daniel  Wright,  Norton 
Noble.  Lewis  Sawyer,  Jacob  Mathews.  John  i.obdell.  Ab- 
uer  Fish,  Abrahan)  Nichols,  John  Chandler,  Henry  Stone, 
John  Pine. 

Charles  B.  Hatch,  Pound  Keeper. 

Voted  that,  the  Overseers  of  the  Poor  be  authorized  to 
hire  a  House  for  theii'  Poor  the  Ensuing  year. 

In  the  road  surveys  there  is  mentioned  a  road  which 
ran  '"from  Braman's  to  Winslow's  Mills."  Road  district 
No.  5  is  extended  ''south  on  the  state  road  to  the  south 
line  of  Halstead 's  lot." 

lo  1821  our  Member  of  Asscml^ly  was  Ebeiiezer 
Douglass  of  Ticouderoga,  who  afterward  came  to  West- 
]>ort.  Onr  riopresentative  iu  Congress  was  again  Ezra 
C.  Gross. 

This  year  wo  Lave  the  first  positive  iuformatiou  in 
regard  to  a  post  ofhce  here,  though  it  is  not  likely  thafc 
this  was  its  first  establishment.  In  those  days  of  high 
postage  and  small  po])ulatiou,  the  duties  of  a  postmas- 
ter were  by  no  means  arduous.  It  was  very  common 
for  the  country  store  keeper  to  receive  the  appointmeL-l 
hence  there  is  reason  to  believe  tliat  diaries  Hatch 
first  lield  this  office.     Tradition  also  suggests  the  name 


3J2        ^  HISTORY  OF  WE  ST  POUT 

of  Samuel  Cook.  This  paper,  foniid  ;unou<^  the  elTecls 
of  Mr.  Peter  Ferris,  settles  the  point,  for  this  year  at 
least,  of  the  man  who  carried  the  mail. 

"I,  John  Ferris,  Jr.,  of  the  town  of  Westport  and 
state  of  New  York,  do  swear  that  I  will  faithfully  per- 
form all  the  duties  required  of  me,  and  abstain  from 
everything  forbidden  by  the  law  in  relation  to  the  es- 
tablishment of  Post  Oitices  and  Post  Pioads  within  the 
United  States. 

"I  do  solemnly  swear  that  1  will  support  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  United  States. 

Signed     John  Feuris,  Jii. 

Sworn  and  subscribed  before  me  this  ) 
day  of  January,  1821.  f 

DiADOKUS   HOLCOMB, 

Justice  of  the  Pence. 

John  Ferris  lived  at  the  turn  of  the  road  as  you  <^o 
down  to  the  ferry  at  Barber's  Point,  and  1  have  no 
doubt  that  he  brought  the  mail  on  horseback  froii) 
Vergeunes,  crossing  on  this  ferr}'. 

March  3,  1821,  Piatt  Pvogers  Halstead  received  the 
appointment  of  Commissioner  of  Deeds,  and  was  also 
made  Loan  Commissioner. 

In  1821  Jason  Dunster  came  to  the  village  at  the 
Falls,  then  called  Braman's  Mills.  Tlie  Dunsters  couje 
of  the  very  best  American  ancestry,  being  descended 
directly  from  that  Henry  Dunster  who  came  from  Eng- 
land to  Massachusetts  in  1G40,  and  was  immedi.itely 
chosen  as  the  first  President  of  Harvard  College,  then 
in  its  very  beginnings.   President  Dunster  was  selecteil 


IIJSTOh'y  OF  ]VKSTJ'0/rr  S2:i 

for  tlie  place  ou  accouut  of  bisjj;reat  leaniiii;,' and  piety, 
am]  lie  filled  it  with  credit  for  twelve  years.  The  fam- 
ily remained  in  Cambridge  for  four  generations.  J<nia- 
tlian,  you  nicest  son  of  President  Dunster,  was  a  farmer, 
and  bis  v/ife's  name  was  Abigail  Eliot.  Their  oldest 
s'.ui,  Heur},  married  IMartlia  llussell.  daughter  of  Jason 
Kusscll,  and  his  youngest  son  was  named  Jason,  Jason 
married  Rebecca  Cutter,  and  to  him  descended  the  old 
Dunster  homestead  in  Cambridge,  in  which  he  lived  for 
eighteen  years,  moving  to  Mason,  New  Hampshire,  in 
170'.).  His  youngest  son  was  another  Jason,  born  1768, 
and  he  was. a  soldier  in  the  Kevolutiou,  serving  a  part 
of  the  time  on  the  Hudson  river.  His  wife  was  Polly 
Meriam,  and  he  died  in  1828,  and  was  buried  at  Mason. 
The  third  Jason,  oldest  sou  of  the  second  Jason,  was 
the  out;  who  came  to  Westport  in  1821,  a  young  man  of 
twenty-seven.  He  bad  served  in  the  war  of  1812,  as  an 
Ensign,  being'  stationed  at  Portsmouth,  N.  H.  His 
sword  is  still  preserved  in  his  sou's  family.  His  lirst 
wife  was  Azul)ah  Felt,  (of  the  same  family  as  Abitha 
Felt,  wife  of  Jesse  Braman,)  and  they  were  accompa- 
nied to  Westport  by  her  father,  Aaron  Felt.  After  the 
deatli  of  his  lirst  wife,  Jason  Dunster  married  Hannah 
Hardy.  His  daughter  Louise  married  Morris  Sher- 
man, and  was  the  mother  of  Ellery  and  of  Carroll  Sher- 
man. His  sou  Charles  Cai-r(.»ll  married  Rachel  Benson, 
and  has  tluf-e  children  living,  Clara  Louise,  Elsie,  now 
Mrs.  Frank  Hodgkins,  and  Mar}'. 

Tow;;  inei.-tiii<t  "iu  the  seuool  bouse  at  North  West  Dav. "', 


:r>4  ^    insToh'V  OF  WKsrroirr 

Gideou  lianimoiid.  vSunorvisor. 

Ebe.ut'Zt.'i-  Newell,  Town  Clerk. 

Johu  Lotxiell,  Joel  iUirrou^His  atul  Piatt  R.  Elulsteud, 
Assessors. 

Levi  Frisbie.  Collector. 

John  Lobdeli  and  Coleo  P.  Cole,  Poor  .Masters. 

NortoD  Noble,  Charles  B.  Hatch  and  Charles  Fisher, 
Hi^fhway  Conimissiouers. 

Charles  B.  Hatch,  Piatt  K.  Halsteadaud  Ira  Hendersou, 
School  Commissioners. 

BoutoQ  Lobdeli,  .Asahel  Lyon  a'ld  Diadorus  PT'>]comb. 
School  Inspectors. 

Levi  Frisbie  and  Philo  Kingsley,  Constables. 

Charles  Hatch,  Pound  Keeper. 

Fence  Viewers. — Timothy  Sheldon,  Tillioghast  Cole, 
Harrj'  Stone,  Enos  Loveland,  Daniel  \Vric,'ht  and  JoIiq 
Lobdeli. 

Overseers  of  Highways. — Ralph  Walton.  Charles  Wood, 
James  Coll,  Jesse  More,  Caleb  I'.  Cole,  Barnabas  My  rick, 
Elijah  Ani^'ier,  Alexander  Frazier,  Moses  Felt.  Oliver  H. 
Barrett.  John  Hauiels,  3rd,  John  Kini]:sley.  Johnson  Hill, 
Joshua  Smith,  Gideon  Hammond,  Harry  Stune,  Washing- 
ton Lee,  Jolin  Chamberlain. 

Voted  to  raise  §1U1,I  fur  the  support  of  the  poor.  ?25  to 
repair  the  '•bridge  at  Johu  Shearman's"  and  •■double  the 
the  sum  allowed  bv  the  state  for  the  suppoi't  of  common 
schools. " 

Survey  of  a  •"road  beginning  at  a  Hemlock  Tree  standing 
on  tbe  Lake  .shore  near  the  old  Wharf  in  Chauncey  Bar- 
ker's Bay, "  and  .running  '•to  the  Ijake  road  a  fevr  rods' 
north  of  the  house  now  occupied  by  John  Ferris,  Jun. 
.-Vlso  a  road  beginning  at  the  south  wharf  of  the  Widow 
Huldah  Barber,  and  intersecting  the  main  road  'opposite 
of  the  -•."d  Widow  Barber's  horse  shed."  Also  aRoad  lead- 
ing from  •'Wadham's  and  Braman's  Forge"  15  Braynard's 
wid  Mitehel's  Forge. 

In  October  of  this  year  occurred   the  deatli  rrnd   fu- 

ueral  of  General   Daniel  ^Y right,  the   latter  conducted 

with  military    honor.s.     Only    eight    years  had   passed 

since  the  battle  of  Plattsburgh,  and  it   still   seemed  to 

these  people  but  an  event    of    \esterday.     The   annual 


HISTORY  OF  WKSTPOirr  :i2r> 

militia  traiuiiigs  ha<l  incvt^ased  steadily  iu  pomp  auil 
pircuinstanco,  aud  there  is  uo  doubt  that  this  occasion 
Avas  truly  au  imposiug  ceremony.  Ofticors  and  men  at- 
tended from  the  three  counties  of  the  Fortieth  Brigade, 
and  all  that  horses,  uniforms,  musket  and  pistol,  sword 
and  cockade,  muffled  drum,  crape  and  mourning  ban- 
ners could  do,  was  done,  to  render  the  funeral  of  Gen- 
eral "Wright  a  sight  tol'O  remfnibered.  The  procession 
came  down  the  hills  from  the  General's  farm,  into  the 
village  antl  up  Pleasant  street  to  the  cemetery,  headed 
by  the  Brigadier-General  of  the  Fortieth  Brigade,  who 
was  at  that  time  Luman  Wadhams. 

General  Wadharas  may  not  have  moved  his  family 
from  Lewis  to  Westport  at  this  time,  but  he  must  have 
bought  property  at  the  Falls  before  this,  as  we  find  ref- 
erence iu  the  road  surveys  to  "Wadham's  and  Braraan's 
Forge,"  and  he  came  here  to  live  soon  after.  The  name 
of  ^A^ldllams  is  probably  the  oldest  to  be  found  iu  con- 
nection with  Westport  history.  It  dates  back  .to  the 
days  of  King  Edward  I.,  iu  merry  old  England.  The 
family  was  an  honorable  as  well  as  an  ancient  one,  "and 
became  allied  to  many  great  and  noble  houses,"  says 
Prince  in  his  "Worthies  of  Devon."  The  most  illus- 
trious names  in  the  line  are  those  of  Nicholas  Wadham 
and  Dorothy  his  wife,  who  together  founded  Wadham 
College  at  Oxford  iu  1009.  The  first  of  the  name  to 
come  to  America  was  John  Wadham,  who  came  from 
Somersetshire,  England,  to  Wethersfield,  Connecticut, 
in  1G50.  For  three  generations  the  family  sojourned 
in  Wetherstield,  and  it  seems  to  have  been    iu  this  |)e- 


■rjh-  nisTORY  OF  wr.srroRT 

rioJ  that  the  letter  "s"  was  added  to  the  name.  Fov 
two  geiioratious  they  were  in  Goshen,  Oonuectieut,  and 
it  was  in  Gosheu  that  Luman  Wadhams,  the  first  of  tlie 
name  in  ^Ycstport,  was  born,  in  1782.  He  went  to  Char- 
lotte, Vt.,  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Lake  Ohamplaiu, 
about  1800,  and  there  he  married  a  widow,  Luc}-  Pi  in- 
die, born  Bostwick.  (The  tirst  of  her  family  to  come 
to  America  was  Ebenezer  13ostwick,  from  Cheshire,  in 
1068.)  In  1809  Luman  Wadhams  came  from  Vermont 
to  Lewis,  and  soon  after  18'i2  he  was  living  at  the  place 
soon  afterward  called  Wadhams  Mills.  The  mill  prop- 
erty there  remained  in  the  Wadhams  famih*  for  over 
fort}-  years. 

General  Luman  Wadhams  aud  Lucy  his  wife  had  five 
children  : 

\.  Lucy  Alvira  married  Dr.  Dau  Stiles  Wright  as  his 
second  wife.  Dr.  Wright  was  practicing  mediciue 
ID  Westport  before  ISol.  He  does  not  seem  to  nave 
oeen  at  ati  related  to  General  Daniel  Wrignt,  since  lie  was 
tne  second  s;,m  of  P'benezer  and  Lucrelia  (Wood)  Wright, 
of  Shorebam,  V't.  His  first  wifes  name  was  EieutheriU. 
aud  she  died  in  Westport,  and  was  buried  in  the  cemetery 
here.  Nut  long  before  her  death,  in  1831,  the  house  in 
which  tbey  were  living,  on  Pleasant  street,  (che  site  is 
now  occupied  by  M  r.  Henry  Richards"  house,;  was  burned, 
and  ^Irs.  \Vrigbt  v.as  curried  out,  while  her  only  cliiKI,  a 
-babyboy,  was  thrown  from  an  upper  window.  xVfter  bis 
second  marriage  Dr.  Wright  removed  to  Whiteball,  ana 
was  there  sent  to  bi.)th  branches  of  the  ^State  Legislature. 
Dr.  V\  right  and  Lucy  his  wife  bad  six  children,  one  of 
whom,  Lleulheria  Farnham  Wrigut,  married  Wiliett  Kug- 
er.-.,  sou  of  Ed  Rogers  of  Whallousburgh.  aud  her  daugh- 
ter. Kate  Rogers,  (now  Mrs.  Edgar  G.  U'orden,  Lewi:,towu. 
Aioutaua.)  taugbt'school  in  \Vt\stport  for  several  years. 

2.  Jan«  Ana  Wadhams  married  ticnjamin  Welis  of  Up- 
per Jay.  X.  Y. 

3.  William  Luman  Wadhams,  (universally  known  as 
'"Deacon  U'udhams,  ")  married  Emeline  I^.   Cole,  d;iugli.ter 


HISTORY  or  WEST  PORT  327 

of  Samuel  and  rri-and-daiifirhter  of  Edward  Cole  of  North- 
west Bay;  also  <:rand-d'dU(jbter  of  Diodorus  Holcoinb,  M. 
D.  They  had  thirteen  thildren,  of  whom  four  died  in  in- 
fancy. 

William  married  Lucinda  Skinner, 

I;iiman  married  Elizabeth  S.  Staynor,  in  San  Francisco. 
Children,  Ida,  Edward,  Vir^jrinia,  Georc^e.  Bertha. 

Lucy  Bostwiek.  married  Herbert  L.  Cady.  Children. 
William  Lewis,  Frank  Blish,  Frederick  Wadbams,  Her- 
bert Aldeu. 

Frara-os  Durchard,  nnrried  l.^t,  Georj'c  D.  Davenport, 
2nd,  Ebeuezer  J.  Oriusbee,  Governor  of  V^'ermonfc. 

Harriet  Weeks,  married  Dr.  George  T.  Stevens,  now  of 
New  York.  Children,  Francos  Virginia,  Charles  Wad- 
bams, Geoi-frina  Wadbams. 

Samuel  Dallas  married,  in  Elmira,  Gcorgina  O^deu. 
Child,  Hairy  Albion. 

Albion  Varette,  married  in  Annapolis,  Caroline  Hender- 
son. Children,  William  Henderson,  Albion  James,  Eliza- 
beth Wadbams. 

Frederick  Eugene,  married  Emma,  dauirhter  of  Dr.  p]. 
D.  Jones  of  Albany,     Child,  Elizabeth  Jones. 

Emeline  Elizabeth,  married  John  E.  Burton  of  Albany. 
Children.  Mary  Landon,  John  Wadbams. 

4.  Aiirara  E.  Wadbams  married  Sophia  Southard,  of 
Essex,  and  resided  at  Wadbams  Mills.  Children:  Edmund 
Abraham,  born  1833,  died  at  Blaine,  Wash.,  1900;  several 
times  mayor  of  the  city.  Pitt  Edi^ar,  born  1836,  killed  at 
Chancellors viile.  Va.,  May  3,  1863. 

5.  Edtjar  Prindle  Wadbams,  the  only  one  of  the  family 
to  embrace  the  Roman  Catholic  faith,  became  the  first 
Bishop  of  Ogdensburirti. 

Few  of  the  Wadhaiii.s  family  seem  to  have  been  boru 
to  obscurity,  ami  that  one  of  them  who  has  most  en- 
gaged public  atteutioii  is  perhaps  Bishop  Wadhams. 
Tills  has  come  {)artly  from  essv'intiul  and  dominant 
characteristics  oi  the  man  himself,  uud  partly  from  the 
fact  of  his  chauj^o  of  fuith  from  Protestantism  to  thak 
form  of  beUef  maintained  by  Eoman  Catholics.  As  a 
rule,  in  our  couutiy,  Catholics  are  boru  and  not  made. 


32S'  11  [STORY  OF  WEST r OUT 

!incl  this  is  no  truer  anywliere  tlian  in  the  town  of 
Avhicli  tliis  is  a  history.  The  writer  cannot  reoa]l  aii- 
otlior  single  instance  of  such  a  chan_;:fe  in  belief.  On 
this  accoiDit,  if  for  no  other  reason,  oroat  interest  has 
alwiiys  been  manifested  in  this  man.  I  do  not  know- 
that  there  is  any  complete  l^iogcHjiliy  of  his  \\U\  l>ut 
there  is  an  interestinn;  little  book  called  "lleminiseencts 
of  Bishop  "Wadhatus"  written  hy  Father  Wahvorlli  of 
Albany,  who  made  the  change  from  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  to  the  Roman  Cathc-lic  ohnreh  at  nearly  the 
same  time  as  did  "\Vadh;ims.  In  this  book  we  find  tluit 
"NVadhams  was  born  in  Lewis  in  1S17  ;  entered  Middlu- 
bury  College  in  183-1  and  graduated  with  honors  in  J83S, 
Though  brought  up  a  Presbyterian,  he  became  an  Epis- 
copalian while  in  Middlebury,  of  so  earnest  and  de- 
voted a  type  that  he  was  accustomed  to  lift  his  hat 
upon  passing  the  church.  There  was  no  settled  rector 
and  no  regular  service,  and  Wadhams  and  a  friend 
of  his  often  conducted  the  service  them/;elves,  one 
playing  the  organ  while  the  other  read  the  service. 
In  1843  "Wadhams  received  deacon's  order  in 
tlie  Protestant  Episco})al  Church,  and  was  sta- 
tioned in  Essex  county,  his  principal  station  being  in 
Ticonderoga,  Mith  occasional  services  in  Port  Henry 
aijd  Wadhams  Mills.  It  was  during  this  period  of  his 
diaconate  tiiat  the  remarkable  attempt  to  found  a  mon- 
astery at  Wadhams  Mills  was  made.  It  sounds  wild 
4nd  romantic  enough,  but  nothing  could  show  more 
clearly  that  his  final  entrance  into  the  Catholic  church 
was  but  a  natural  setpience  to  the   whole  bent  of   his 


justohy  of  wEsrroirr  :i-2u 

luiucl  from  Li^;  first  entrance  iuto  the  Eiiiseopul  ftiUl. 

Ill  Walworth's  book  is  L;iven  a  picture  of  "the  iu(ni- 
iistery  atWadhitms  Mills,"  which  is  none  other  than  the 
okl  \Yadhams  house  in  tlje  vilhiqe,  next  to  Payne's 
store,  uow  occupied  by  Mrs.  Joel  Whitney.  The  house 
is  ^iveu  that  name  because  durinp;  the  wiuter  of  18-1-1-5 
Wadhams  and  Walworth  lived  there,  keepin^i;  up  as  far 
as  p)0ssible  the  rules  and  discipline  of  a  monastic  life. 
^Irs.  Wadhams,  then  a  widow,  lived  in  the  house  also, 
but  the  young  men  occupied  three  rooms  by  themselves 
and  lived  their  own  life,  doing  their  own  cooking,  and 
fasting  according  to  rules  adopted  by  them.  Walworth 
says:  "Wadh<a.ms'  favorite  idea  was  to  educate  boys 
of  the  ueigliborhood,  training  them  specially  to  a  relig- 
ious life  which  should  serve  finally  to  stock  our  con- 
vent with  good  monks.  xV  handful  of  boys  who  gath- 
ered with  other  children  on  Sundays  in  the  school- 
house  for  catechism  seemed  to  atTord  a  nucleus  which 
might  afterward  develop  into  a  novitiate.  We  actually 
laid  the  foundations  and  Imilt  up  the  sides  of  a  convent 
building.  It  was  nothiug,  indeed,  but  a  log-house  and 
never  received  a  roof,  for  the  winter  was  intensely  cold, 
and  the  ensuing  S}>ring  ojjened  with  events  which  sent 
nje  into  the  Catholic  church  and  to  Europe,  leaving 
notliiug  of  the  convent  but  roofless  logs  and  a  commu- 
nity of  one.  But  I  mistake  ;  Wadhams  had  a  Cana- 
<lian  pony  which,  in  lionor  of  pious  service  to  be  there- 
after rendered,  we  named  lU)iu  and  a  cow  which  for 
similar  reasons  we  named  B<nit('.  Our  log-house  clois- 
ter was  built  on  a  lovely  spot  under  the  shelter  of  a  hill 


:iuj  IHSTf'RV  OF  WFSTPoUT 

v>-]iich  lionmlod  a  f.irni  iuheiitfd  \)\  V.'u'.lluuns  from  his 
i'ullier.  The  t'lM'iii  coiitiiint'd  a  fuio  stvt'tcli  of  woodl.-iutl 
ou  the  smith,  while  t'le  greater  part  fro:ii  east  to  west 
was  opt^n  and  oultivr.ted  iiehl,  the.  half  of  whicli,  high 
ai'd  terraced.,  looked  down  upon  a  lower  meadow  ];>ud 
v.hich  extended  on  a  perfect  level  to  a  fine  stream  bor- 
dering the  farm  on  the  east.  Beyond  the  brook  and 
ah)n-  its  e  11,^^  ran  tht;  mad  from  Wadliciuis  Mills  to 
Lfwis.  There  w;<s  ujneh  debate  beftire  we  fixed  on  thii 
site  of  our  convent.  A  tuu;  barn  stood  already  built  uw 
the  natural  terrace  on  the  south  side,  while  under  tlie 
terrace  at  the  ncath  t)nK\  was  ;i  in;(.;j;nifieent  spring  of 
the  purc^st  water.  '^Vhere  should  the  convent  be,  near 
the  barn  or  near  the  sj)rinp:;  ?  Every  present  convenience 
lay  on  the  sid;^  of  thc^  liarn,  and  horse  and  cow  were 
actual  possessions.  But  our  hopes  looked  briy;ht!y  for 
the  future.  Vvliat  would  a  <.';reat  con^injunity  of  hood.^il 
cenoVutt's' do  wiihoul  a  holy  well  near  l)y  V  So  we  luid 
the  foundatiojis  of  the  futtire  pile  on  the  edge  of  the 
tcrract:  just  above  the  s})ring.  \Ve  ilid  not  cous-ult 
either  Beni  or  Bonte." 

W;dw(jrth  says  later:  "St.  Mary's  Monastery  in  the 
X'Uth  Wood.s  h.i  1  turned  out  to  be  a  vision.  Tiiat 
vi>.ion  hi'-d  vanished,  and  in  its  ])lace  was  left  ni^thing 
lint  a  rootless  log  house  on  the  "\V;Ldhams  farm."  This 
means  that  both  the  young  men  had  decided  that  they 
could  not  find  what  they  wanted  in  the  E[)iscopal 
Church,  and  therefore  sought  farther  in  thc-Bioman 
Catholic  Church.  \A';)ludrth  "went  over"  in  1815,  and 
immediately  brought  all   ids    powers  of    persuasion  t-.' 


lUSTonv  OF  WKsrroirr  •■t-n 

beur  upon  liis  fiieml.  He  writes  from  a  convent  iit  St. 
Trond,  Belgium,  Februurv  ITtli,  ISIG,  "All!  if  the 
qnotidam  abbot  of  Wculharns  Mills  were  only  here, 
where  the  discipline  of  the  religious  life  is  found  in  all 
its  wisdom,  vigor,  attractiveness,  he  would  weep  and 
hiugh  by  turns  with  me  at  our  little  'monkery'  among 
tiie  hills  of  Essex." 

Before  the  year  was  out  Edgar  Wadhams  had  also 
joined  the  Ptoraau  Catholic  Church,  beirg  received  by 
the  Sulpicians  of  St.  Mary's  Seminary  at  Baltimore. 
He  was  ordained  a  priest  at  St.  Mary's  Bro-Cathedral, 
Albany,  in  1850,  an.l  resid-jd  in  that  city  until  he  be- 
canie  Bishop  of  Ogdeusburgh  in  1872.     He  died  in  1891. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  time  at  which  Edgar 
Wadhams  made  the  momentous  change  from  one  faith 
to  another  was  also  the  period  of  the  Oxford  movement 
in  England,  v»hen  the  hearts  of  n!en  wei-e  so  stirred  by 
the  questions  of  the  divine  authority  of  the  church,  the 
validity  of  the  sacraments  and  of  priest's  orders,  and 
many  other  things.  It  was  at  this  time  that  John 
Henr}'  Newman  changed  his  allegiance  from  the  Church 
of  England  to  that  of  Borne,  and  so  distinguished  an 
example  may  well  have  had  its  intlueuce  upon  the  mind 
^)f  Wadhams,  as  it  had  upon  that  of  many  otliers,  both 
in  England  anW  in  America.  The  hymn  Lux  lh'niii)i(i, 
uhich  is  such  a  favorite  with  both  Protestants  and 
Catholics,  was  written  by  Newman  at  the  time  of  his 
inenttdstruggle  in  regard  to  his  duty. 

••J>t';id.  kindly  liglit,  amid  tlji,-  (mrii-Lrling  uli'Dm, 
Bead  tloa  nie  uu; 


.^c^2  iiiSTOiiY  OF  wKsrroirr 

The  ni;.^lit  is  uurk,  uud  I  aui  faf  from  home. 

Lead  thou  mo  ou; 
]\eei>  thou  my  feet;  I  do  not  ask  to  see 
The  distant  scene;  one  step  enough  for  me." 

To  Newman  the  one  step  amid  the  eucirclinf^  gloom 
seemed  that  into  tlie  bosom  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and 
thns  it  also  seemed  to  Wadhams. 

This  sketch  lias  carried  us  far  beyond  our  chronolog- 
ical order,  but  it  is  believed  that  it  will  be  more  satis- 
factory than  presenting  the  successive  incidents  in  the 
dates  at  which  the}'  occurred. 

In  the  summer  of  18"22  Major  McNeil,  who  had  been 
on  the  statr  ol  General  Wright  in  the  war  of  1812,  came 
to  Wostport,  and  lived  on  Pleasant  street.  His  wife, 
Hannah,  (a  sister  of  Asahei  Havens,)  presented  a  letter 
of  recommendation  to  the  Baptist  church  in  September, 
and  was  received  into  membership.  Four  years  after- 
ward the  church  gave  her  a  similar  letter,  "to  the 
church  at  Peru,"  u[H)u  the  removal  of  the  family  from 
Westport. 

1823. 

Town  Meeting  held  at  the  school  bouse  at  X.  W.  Bay. 

Gideon  Hammond.  Supervisor. 

Samuel  Cook,  Jan.,  Town  Clerk. 

Caleb  P.  Cole.  Enos  Loveland  and  Calvin  Angier.  As- 
sessors. 

Levi  Frisbie,  Collector. 

Caleb  P   Cole  anu  Josej)h  Stacy,  Poor  Masters. 

Piatt  Sheldon,  George  B.  Reynolds  and  Jesse  Bramau. 
ilighwav  Commissioners. 

Charles  B.  Hatch.  Ira  Henderson  and  Piatt  R.  ILdstead, 
School  Commissioners. 

John  Charidler,  Caleb C.  Barnes  and  William  S.  McLeod, 
Sebooi  IiisiK.'ctors. 


niSTOHY  OF  V.SETPORT  :iS3 

Philo  Kinf^slev,  Levi  Fri-sbie  and  Samuel  ChaudlGr,  Con- 
stal)!os. 

Folice  Vieu-ers. — Plutt  Stieldou,  Asa  Loveland,  Abaer 
Fisli  aud  Joseph u5  Merriam. 

Charles  Hatch,  Pound  Keeper. 

Overseers  of  Ilif^^hwavs. — Joseph  Ornisbec,  Titnothv 
Siuldon.  Samuel  Coll,  Tilliurdvast  Cole,  Asahel  Lyon,  Jo- 
scpbus  Merriam,  Georife  SturtovaDl,  Amos  J^oclc,  Samuel 
Deuton,  Elijah  Shermao,  Samuel  Sloi^rs,  Abner  Fish,  Wil- 
liam Deutou,  Gideou  ITammot.d.  Harrv  Stone.  Peter  Tar- 
bell. 

There  is  no  year  more  meoiorable  in  the  bistory  of 
AVestport  than  this,  whio.li  saw  the  completion  of  the 
Clianiplain  canal.  It  was  begun  June  10,  1818,  and 
thiishecl  to  V.'aterford,  Nov.  28,  1822,  so  that  it  was  pos- 
t-iblc  for  boats  to  pass  froia  the  Hudson  to  Lake  Cham- 
plain  before  whiter.  Thus  was  this  long  portage,  which 
bad  bad  such  power  over  the  designs  of  men  since 
boats  floated  on  lake  or  river,  conquered  and  annulled, 
ai)d  the  Ch.am plain  valley  stretched  out  to  the  very  sea- 
board. The  caual  is  sixty-four  miles  long,  and  follows 
ilie  route  v.liieh  Bargoytie  took  at  the  advice  of  Skene, 
to  the  utter  undoing  of  his  army  aud  himself. 

Now  opeued  a  new  era  of  commerce  and  immigration. 
l''or  the  first  titne  merchandise  could  be  brought  from 
the  metropolis  directly  to  our  v.diarves,  aud  travelers 
wlio  ventured  into  the  wide,  wide  world  ^s•ere  not  nec- 
L's,v;ii-ily  cut  oir  from  homo  and  kindred  by  barriers 
which  required  more  than  ordinary  resolution  to  over- 
<-onu'.  Naturally,  a  rapid  increase  of  immigration  took 
place,  and  one  of  tlie  first  additions  was  the  family  of 
Sewull  Cutting. 

The  first  Anieriean    Uiicestor  of   this   Cuttinir  familv 


.V.7J  iiLsrnin'  of  wksttort 

Avas  JAicharil,  who  eaiuo  from  Ipswich,  Euf^land,  to  ]^>os- 
tou,  Mass.,  in  183-1.  The  lino  is  tiacod  thvoui^h  tliree 
Zechariahs  to  Jonas,  who  serv«nl  in  the  liovoluticu  as 
private  and  corporal  in  a  New  Hampshire  regiment. 
His  son  Jonas,  of  AYeatliersfield,  Yt,  Colonel  of  the 
2-Jth  U.  8.  Infantry  in  the  war  of  18.12,  was  the  father 
of  Scwall,  who  was  born  at  Berlin,  ^^dass.,  Aug.  16, 1780, 
and  died  at  We>t[.ort,  April  21,  1855.  He  married  at 
Windsor,  Yt.,  Aug.  3,  1806,  Mary,  daughter  of  William 
and  Mary  (Xewellj  Hunter,  and  sister  of  Mrs.  Asa 
Aikens  and  of  \Yilliain  Guy  Hunter.  They  moved  fnjuj 
Windsor  to  New  York  city  in  1821,  and  in  1823,  at- 
tracted by  the  now  possibilities  of  life  on  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  the  position  of  which  as  a  highway  from  Canada, 
was  much  talked  of  at  the  opening  of  the  caual,  moved 
to  Westport.  Dr.  Sewall  Sylvester  Cutting,  sou  of 
Sewall,  has  left  an  account  of  the  journey  which  gives 
an  interesting  sketch  (.f  tlie'  mode  of  travel  at  that  time, 
"We  left  New  York  about  November  first,  ascending 
the  Hudson  on  a  sloop  bound  for  Troy.  My  father's 
merchandise  was  here  transferred  to  two  canal  boats, 
and  on  one  of  these  boats  ujy  oldest  brother,  William, 
and  myself  took  })assage  for  Whiteliall.  my  father  and 
mother  a.nd  the  younger  children  going  thither  by 
stage.  At  Whitehall  we  took  the  sloop  Suratoyt',  and 
sailing  at  8  P.  M.,  with'  a  strong  south  wind,  reached  our 
destination  at  Westport,  Nov.  13,  1823,  at  two  o'clock 
in  the  moi'ning.  Here  my  father  opened  a  store,  and 
having  hail  the  misfortune  to  lose  the  Iniilding  which 
he  had  previously  engaged,  lie  was  obliged,  in  orilev   to 


'uisToi:y  OF  va:srr()jrr  :ri.i 

(^.•t  the  only  unoccupied  store  iu  the  village,  to  take 
with  it,  ami  keep,  a  liotol  of  which  it  was  a  part.  Now 
once  more  I  had  an  (,'p[>ortnii'ty  to  attend  school— the 
distiict  school  of  the  villay;e— and  I  am  hound  to  say 
it  wus'a  good  school  though  certairdy  it  would  now  be 
regarded  as  exceedingly  primitive."  Dr.  Cutting's 
nituinscript  continues  with  an  account  of  hi>^  school  days 
at.  the  boarding  school  of  lUisf,  Batch,  at  Elizabeth- 
town,  the  ne.xt  year.  ?Ie  himself  taught  district  school 
in  Westporc  in  after  days.  He  obtained  his  further  ed- 
ucation at  V>'a.terville  College  and  at  the  University  of 
Vermont,  receiving  his  de\gree  of  Doctor  of  Di%iniry 
from  the  latter  institution  in  1S59.  He  entered  the 
i'aptist  ministry,  preaching  about  ten  years,  and  then 
devoted  hiniself  to  literary  work.  He  was  editor  of 
the  Xew  Ynrl-  JUrnnler,  of  the  Wnfchnin,,  „,)(]  Hi^fler/or 
of  Boston,  and  of  the  n/"o7/7//  Cliristwn  Ihrlar.  }le 
was  made  Professor  of  Rtjctoric  and  History  in  the  Uni- 
v.'i.->ity  of  Rochester  in  ISoo.  Dr.  Cutting's  collected 
writings,  both  prose  and  poetry,  would  uuake  a  valuaiile 
book.  His  long  poem  on  ''Lake  Champlain,"  recited 
before  the  alutnni  of  his  cla.-;s  iu  lUnlington,  June  2l5, 
1S77,  has  both  strength  and  grace,  and  the  tender  tribute 
to  the  little  town  wljere  his  motlu'r  lies  iniried  is  very 
touching.  Wli.ata  pity  that  he  did  not  write  a  liistory 
of  tlie  place.  He  had  tin-  true  anti(|uaria.n  zeal  and  the 
exhaustless  interest  which  turns  the  real  into  the  ideal. 
One  of  his  contiilmtious  to  local  histoiy  wa:^  "The 
Creuesis  of  i\'>'  Ibiekboavd,"'  so  often  quoted. 

J  b-.  Cutiing's  llr.-5t  v.iic  was  Ev;'liua  Chailotte,  daagh- 


I> 


s.io  .  iiisTORY  OF  wcsrroRT 

ter  of  Cliirdner  Stow,  tlien  of  Kceseville,  afterwaul  of 
Troy,  and  AttoDiey-Geiicral  of  tlie  State  b}'  appoint- 
lueDt  of  Gov.  Seymour.  The  issue  of  this  marriage  was 
Gardner  Stow  Cuttiug,  who  graduated  at  Rochester  in 
1858,  and  studied  law  in  the  office  of  his  grandfather 
in  Troy.  Dr.  Cutting's  second  wife  was  Elizabeth, 
widow  of  Thomas  Waterman,  and  daughter  of  Hugh 
II.  Browi'.,  who  was  grandson  of  Gov,  Elisha  Brown  of 
Rhode  Island.  One  son  by  this  marriage,  Mr.  Churcli- 
ill  Hunter  Cutting,  has  for  a  number  of  years  spent  his 
summers  at  Westport  witli  his  family. 

To  return  to  the  elder  Sewall  Cutting,  stepping  otf 
the  sloop  Sarafor/rt  in  Northwest  Bay  that  dark  Novem- 
ber morning.  The  family  whom  he  brought  with  him 
became  important  parts  of  the  comnamity  life  as  they 
grew  up.  All  were  connected  with  the  Baptist  church 
in  its  most  prosperous  days,  and  pla3'ed  leading  parts 
in  its  history.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sewall  Cutting  brought 
letters  from  a  Baptist  church  in  New  York  when  they 
eauu-.  Mo.st  of  the  Cuttings  were  singers,  and  for  years 
the  family  formed  a  large  part  of  the  choir.  People  fa- 
miliar with  tlie  workings  of  a  large  and  active  coun- 
try church  will  recognize  the  fact  that  leadership  in  the 
ehoir  brought  with  it  social  leadership  as  well  William 
J.  and  Franklin  H.  Cutting  (sons  of  Sewall)  were  in 
Vmsiness  together  in  \Vestport  for  years.  William  J. 
Cutting  built  the  large  brick  house  on  the  hill  at  the 
head  of  Liberty  street,  with  the  porch  suggestive  of  the 
Parthenon  at  Athens,  which  shows  above  the  village 
from  the   lake.      His  dau;rhters  were  Marv,  now  Mrs. 


jjiSTOi?v  OF  WEsrroirr  337 

F.  H.  Pago,  Helen,  ikjw  ]\rrs.  Kiiigslaiid  of  Burlington, 
and  Lucy,  nou-  Mrs.  Jacob  Hiiids  of  Yergenues.  His 
wife  was  Minerva  Holcomb,  daughter  of  Dr.  Diodorus. 

Franklin  H.  Cutting  lived  in  the  Hatch  house,  since 
owned  by  F.  H.  Page  and  G.  C.  Spencer.  He  married 
Ann  H.  Titrany,  at  Southbridge,  Mass.,  in  ISIO.  Other 
sons  of  Sev.  all  Cutting  were  Wallace  and  Uan. 

Sewall  Catting  the  elder  married  again  after  the 
death  of  his  first  wife  a  Miss  Burchard,  and  her  children 
were  Lucv  and  John  Tyler  Cutting.  The  latter  after- 
ward went  to  California,  and  became  a  successful  mer- 
chant in  San  Francisco.  He  entered  the  army,  served 
throughout  the  Civil  war,  and  was  for  nine  years  con- 
nected with  the  National  Guard  of  California  as  lieu- 
tenant, major,  colonel  and  brigadier-General.  He  also 
went  to  the  Fifty-second  Congress  as  member  from 
California. 

Up  to  this  time  thero  had  been  but  one  post-ofYice  in 
the  to\^■n,  and  that  at  Northwest  Bay,  but  uow  the  vil- 
lage at  the  falls  on  the  Boquet  had  reached  the  size  and 
importance  which  demanded,  and  received,  a  post-office 
of  its  own.  When  its  official  title  came  to  be  decided, 
the  name  of  Wadham's  Mills  was  chosen,  after  the  name 
of  the  u;ill-owner,  who  had  come  into  the  place  the 
previous  year.  The  document  which  establishes  this 
postoffice,  ap])ointing  Gen.  Lnmau  Wadhams  as  the  first 
postmaster,  is  dated  February  25,  1823,  and  is  now  in 
the  possession  of  his,  grand-daughter,  Mrs.  E.  J.  Orms- 
bee,  of  Brandon,  Yt. 


:i.3S  "     HI  STORY  OF  n'USTPOnr 


1^24. 


Towij  MeC'tiui;  held  in  the  Sclunil  bouse. 

Gideon  Hainrnond,  iSij[)rTvisoi-. 

Sariiuol  Cook,  Jun..  Town  Clerk. 

Enos  Lovelaad,  Calviu  Angier,  Piatt  R.  Halstead,  As- 
sessors. 

L(?vi  I'^risbie.  Colleeto!-. 

Caleb  P.  Cole  aud  John  Lobdell,  Overseers  of  the  Poor. 

Piatt  Sheldon,  Geni-;:e  }->.  Keyuolds  and  Ji-sse  Branian, 
Hi^rhwa V  Ci>inrnissioiiers. 

Piatt  R.'  Uuistead,-  David  B.  McNeil  and  Charles  B. 
Hatch.  School  Coniriiissioners. 

Diadorus  Holcnnib,  AsahelLy*)n  and  William  S.  .McLcod. 
School  Inspectors. 

Levi  Frisbie,  Philo  Kin^^s]ey  and  John  Smith,  Jr.,  Con- 
stables. 

John  Hatch  Low,  Pound  Master. 

Fence  X'iewurs.  —  Piatt  Sheldon,  Asa  L  >veland.  Abner 
Fish,  Jasephus  >Terriara. 

Overseers  of  Hicrhways.--Ralph  Walt.ni,  Charles  Wood, 
Jame.s  W.  Coll,  Willard  Frisbie,  Diadvjru-;  Holcomb,  Eb-  - 
nezer  Scisch^.  Elijih  Williams,  John  Whitnev.  Samuel 
Denton.  Gideon  Hammond,  Henrv  Stone,  Juhu  Pine.  Jacob 
Matthews,  Chester  Taylor. 

In  th.^  road  surveys  we  find  two  "privato  roads"  laid 
out.  Oa.'  ran  from  "the  shore  of  Lake  Ciiatii[ilaiii  to 
the  road  which  lea. Is  ti^  'Maria  Coats'  ore  bed  lot."  It 
b?gan  "at  a  slake  staudiiip;  uear  the  ore  bed  wharf," 
and  ended  at  a  "'stake  and  stones  stand in-T;  twenty-five 
links  north  of  the  division,  line  between  Piatt  Rogers' 
ore  bed  patent,  and  Lot  No.  100  in  the  Iron  ore  tract." 
The  othor  seenis  to  join  this  one,  and  mentions  "the 
house  in  wljich  Lhaz^r  H.  Rannev  nov/  lives,"  and 
"the  roail  leading  from  Ahijah  Clu;aver's  (ue  bed  to  hi.s 
wharf." 

Another  survey  was   of -'a  road  h'adin-' from  Fi->her's 


HISTORY  OF  WESrrORT  339 

Mills  by    A.  Duntou's  and  the   Bartlett  settlement  to 
the  town  of  Moriah," 

At  this  time  the  only  public  building  in  the  village 
was  Uie  school  house  v.'hicli  stood  ou  Main  street,  on 
the  south  side  of  the  bridge.  Its  threshold  must  have 
been  well  worn,  for  it  was  crossed  by  the  bare  feet 
of  the  children  five  days  and  a  half  out  of  every  week, 
by  the  heavy  cowliide  boot.c  of  the  men  for  town  meet- 
ings, general  elections  and  district  school  meetings, 
and  every  Sunday  felt  the;  tread  of  men,  women  and 
(diildreu,  attending  divine  soivice  at  two  long  sessions, 
morning  and  afternoon.  It  will  be  a  mistake  for  the 
reader  to  allow  a  feeling  of  pity  to  rise  in  his  breast  for 
the  people  subjected  to  so  much  ecclesiastical  labor.  It 
was  the  one  relaxation  of  a  hard  working,  thoughtful, 
self-denying  population,  starved  as  to  mind  and  soul 
ou  remote  farms,  in  many  cases,  through  the  week,  and 
looking  hungrily  forward  t(^  the  opportunity  of  sitting 
ou  a  rough  board  seat  for  an  hour,  listening  to  a  ser- 
mon which  gave  positive  ansv.-er  to  every  question 
then  asked  by  the  mind  of  man.  Do  not,  of  all  things, 
pity  the  women,  for  then  came  their  one  chance  to  ex- 
change notes  (Ml  important  subjects  with  their  neigh- 
bors during  the  intermission  between  services,  while 
the  lunches  were  l)eing  eaten'.  Even  those  who  lived 
in  the  village  often  brouglit  lunch  with  them,  in  order 
to  enjoy  the  company  of  tlie  noon  Iiour.  And  so  we 
understand  when  we  are  told  that  "everybody  went  to 
meeting  then,"  whether  the  preacher  was  the  settled 
Uiiuister  of  the-  Daptists,  coming  out  of  the   ]")a)-sonage 


340  HIS  TO R  Y  0 F  ]VES TPO  R  T 

ajittle  way  down  the  street,  the  Motliodist  circuit  rLler, 
or  Father  Comstock  with  his  Congregational  doctrines, 
riding  in  on  horseback  from  the  house  of  some  friend 
where  he  had  been  as  welcome  as  a  Bible  and  a  daily 
newspaper  rolled  into  f)ne. 

But  what  about  the  children?  Rough  board  seats 
and  sermons  are  poor  support  for  growing  bones.  They 
were  sometimes  allow-.n!  to  play  outside,  roaming  over 
the  fields  and  down  to  the  lake  shore,  and  making  high 
holiday.  Any  one  who  knows  boys  can  imagine  sun- 
dry drawbiicks  to  this  ])lan,  connected  perhaps  with 
stray  cats  and  apple  orchards,  and  it  soon  l)ecame  evi- 
dent that  somtthing  must  be  done.  Then  it  was  that 
the  plan  originated  of  a  Sunday  school,  and  the  person 
who  first  jiut  it  in  operation  in  Westport  was  one  Sam- 
uel Cook,  who  had  joined  the  Baptist  church  in  181 G, 
The  Bajjtists  formed  the  leading  denomination  at  that 
time,  and  for  some  years  alter,  and  consequently  the 
first  Sunday  school  was  a  T^aptist  one.  Mr.  Cook's 
services  seem  to  have  been  entirely  self-oll'ered,  which 
njakes  it  all  the  more  creditable  to  him,  and  we  are  told 
that  the  teaching  and  management  fell  upon  him  and 
his  family.  The  Cooks  seem  to  have  gone  away  in 
1828,  as  in  that  year  Pielief,  Eunice  and  Harriet  Cook 
received  letters  of  dismission.  But  the  Sunday  school 
thus  begun  was  never  abandoned.  The  church  in  1S2(> 
took  a  tormal  vote,  assuming  the  respi)nsil)ility  of  the 
work,  and  in  1830  elected  three  superintendents,  Crid-- 
eon  Hammond,  John  Chandler  and  John  Pine. 

This  vear,  or  not  louir  before  it,  Frederick  T.  Howard 


'     HISTORY  OF  WJCSJTORT  341 

came  from  Ycrmout  with  bis  family,  aud  settled  on  the 
back  road,  on  the  place  so  long  occupied  by  his  son 
Frederick  B.  Howard.  Other  sous  were  Mansfield,  who 
boupjht  the  Gideou  Hammond  place,  where  his  sou 
Pinsli  now  lives  :  Dorr,  who  built  the  large  brick  house 
on  the  road  to  T\^idhams,  now  occupied  by  his  widow  ; 
Orrin,  who  built  the  white  house  near  the  railroad 
crossing  know-n  so  many  years  as  "Howard's;"  aud 
Hosea,  who  lived  on  the  middle  road,  where  his  son 
Fred  now  lives. 

18:^5. 

Town  mcetiu"  held  in  the  school  house  at  N.  "W.  I5ay. 

Gideon  Ilummoud,  Supervisor. 

Samuel  Cook,  Jan.,  Town  Clerk. 

Edus  Lovcluad,  Charles  Hatch  and  John  Lobdull.  r\s- 
sessors. 

Euos  Loveland  aud  John  Lobdell,  Poor  blasters. 

Charles  Fisher,  Caleb  P.  Cole  and  Samuel  Stcirrs,.  Hif^h- 
wav  Commissioners. 

Charles  B.  Hatch,  Piatt  R.  Halstead  aud  Diadovus  Hol- 
cotnb,  School  Commissioners. 

Levi  Frisbie.  Philo  Kingaley  aud.  Jason  Duustcr,  Con- 
stables. 

Piatt  Sheldon,  Asa  Lovcland  aud  Abuer  Fish,  Fence 
Viewers. 

John  H.  r.,o\v.  Pound  Ma.ster. 

Overscei's  of  Hi,t,'h ways.— Joshua  R.  Harris,  Oschar 
Wood.  Crosbie  McKeuzie,  Hezekiah  Barber,  Caleb  I*.  Cule. 
Piatt  R.  Halstead,  Newton  Haze.  Calvin  Angrier,  Willard 
Church,  Elijah  Storrs,  Joel  Finney,  John  Daniels.  3rd, 
John  Kintrsley,  Vine  T.  Bingham,  Enos  Lovcland,  Gideon 
Hammond,  John  Nicholds,  Frederick  Howard,  Jacob 
Mathews,  Chcstoi'-  Taylor. 

In  the  road  surveys  we  find  the  first  mention  of  the 
road  which  we  should  now  say  led  from  Payne's  wharf 
to  the  Fair  jrioumls,  but  as  neither  one  of  t]\c^>^  termiui 


:i-J-J  IIISTOIiy  OF  WKSTPOirr 

was  exi.-^teiit  in  18'25,  it  is  described  as  '-Itegiuuing  at 
the  north  east  corLer  of  a  piece  of  land  lately  purchased 
bj  Barnabass  Myrick  and  Is  a  Henderson  of  Bontou  Lob- 
dell,"  and  running  "to  the  center  of  the  road  near  Dia- 
dorus  Holconib's."  There  was  also  a  road  laid  out 
"leading  from  Northwest  Bay  to  Whal  )n's  Mill." 

In  this  year  John  Qnincy  Adams  was  inaugurated, 
the  Erie  canal  was  opened,  and  Lafayette  laid  the  c>r- 
ner  stone  of  the  university  building  in  Burlington,  Yt. 
Another  thing  remeuiboi-ed  in  t!ie  Cliarnplain  vallev  is 
that  this  was  a  remarhalily  early  spring,  the  ice  being 
out  of  the  lake  on  the  eighteenth  of  March. 

At  about  this  time  vrere  built  tAvo  of  the  large  brick 
houses  in  the  village.  Judge  H;itch  built  on  Main 
street,  just  north  of  the  present  Library  lawn,  the 
house  now  owned,  by  Mr.  Daniel  F.  Payne,  and  in  the 
northei-n  part  of  {lie  village',  on  the  lake  sliore,  the 
house  now  owned  by  ^Ir.  Lriiuk  Alh'n  was  built  by 
Ebeuezer  Douglass.  Both  are  of  brick  made  in  West- 
})ort  brickyards,  I  am  told,  and  both  have  the  aiassive 
chimneys  with  deep  fire-places  on  two  floors,  which 
were  still  considered  necessary  in  an  elegant  house, 
notwithstanding  tlie  increasing  use  of  stoves.  These 
great  chimneys,  containing  many  tons  of  brick,  were 
built  before  work  was  begun  on  the  outside  of  the  house, 
whether  it  was  to  be  of  wood  or  brick,  and  the  masons 
who  laid  them  must  needs  be  skilled  workmen. 

The  Douglass  house  was  begun  the  year  before,  and 
tinished  this  summer,  but  Ebenezer  Douglass  did  not 
come  until  1825,  his  business  here  being  superintemled 


HISTORY  OF  WESl'J'Oirr  343 

bv  Lis  oldest  son,  Tliomus,  a  young  niau  not  lon<]j 
married  to  Joanna  "Winans.  Tlie  Douglasses  came 
originally  from  Connecticut,  but  Ebeuozor  Douglass  had 
been  in  Tieonderoga  before  1812,  as  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  lie  was  supervisor  of  Tieonderoga  in  that  year, 
holding  the  ollice  until  ISll.  Ho  was  again  eh;oted  in 
181G,  and  again  in  1S2-1,  1S25  and  1826.  Then  he  re- 
moved to  ^Vestport,  remaining  about  twenty  years.  He 
had  been  one  of  the  leading  merchants  of  Tieonderoga, 
in  partnership  witli  Judge  Isaac  Kellogg  until  after 
the  war  of  1812,  and  then  v.ith  Joseph  AYeed  in  the 
Upper  Tillage.  In  Westport  his  business  partner  was 
his  son  "William,  and  firm  name  E.  &  AY.  Douglass. 
They  built  the  northern  wliarf,  and  the  brick  store 
a.bove  it,  owned  boats,  made  potash,  and  carried  on 
extensive  dealings  in  lumber. 

Ebeiiozcr  Doui/hiss  had  a  large  family  of  children.  His 
see. ID d  son,  \V-ilKani.  married  a  Miss  Arlluu'  of  Ticonde- 
vo'jw,  and  was  grundlatber  to  i\Jiss  Ada  G.  Douglass.  His 
daughter  ftauijau  married  Dr.  Abiaihar  lAdlard,  for  many 
yt-ai's  our  leading  physician.  Orher  childreu  of  Ebenezer 
"l)ou<j;lass  were  ^lary.  Lemuel,  John,  Prentice,  and  Be- 
najah.  afterward  supervisor  of  the  town. 

That  the  village  at  Northwest  Bay  was  growing  in 
importance  is  shown  by  all  tliese  things.  Lumber  from 
the  forests  and  iron  from  the  forges  on  the  rivers  ciune 
in  to  our  wharves,  and  was  shipped  on  canal  boats  and 
schooners,  \sdn!e  meichandise  from  the  soi\th,  Albany 
or  New  Yorh,  antl  ore  from  the  Moriah  mines  was  un- 
loaded. r.;anabas  Myrick  built  a  foi'go  at  the  Falls 
this  vear,  and  the  next  he  and  Luman    \Yadhams   built 


:U4 


niSTORV  OF  WKSTrORT 


tlieir-ri.t  mill  there,  making   the    place   one  of  active 
pro>j)erity. 

This    vear    the    schooner    Trn<j    was  lost     with     all 
on  board,  her  master,  Jacob  Halstead,  a  vonnc.  man  r,f 
t-vventy-flve,  his  young  brother,   George,   thirteen   years 
old,  Jacob  Pardee,  their  step-brother,  and   two   others 
whose  names  I  never  heard.    The  schooner  went  on  her 
first  trip  for  ore  to  Port  Hsnry,  one  day  in  November 
and  was  returning  loaded,  when  she  met  a  gale  in  which 
she  foundered,  somewhere  above  Barber's  Point.     It  is 
thought  that  the   oie   v. as   not   pro])erlv   secured    fn.rn 
shifting  in  the  hold,  and  when    the  schooner  careened 
m  the  gale,  the  ore  shifted  and  nkde  it  impossible  for 
her  to  ])e  righted.     Not  one,  master  or  crew,  ever  came 
b:.ck  alive,  and  from  this  tragedy  arose  the  story  which 
Henry  Holcomb  Joved  to  tell,  and  whicli  I  have  always 
Iieard  in  my  own  family,  of  the  mother  and  sisters  sit- 
ting at  hon.e  in  the  Halstead  house,   listening  throu-^h 
the  storm  for  the  .sound   of  home-coming  footsteps  as 
tlie  night  wore  on.     Suddenly  they  heard   the  boys   on 
the  doorsteps,  stamping   off  the   snow   in    the  entry  as 
they  were  wont  to  do  before  coming  in.     The  women 
sprang  to  the  door  and  opened  it,  stepped  to  the   outer 
door  and  looked  down  upon  the  light  carpet  of  untrod- 
den snow  which  lay  before  it,  and  then  crept  tremblin.^ 
back  to   the  fireMde,   knowing   that   son    and    brothers 
would  never  sit  with  them  again  within  its  light.     The 
father  stayed  on  the  wharf  all  night,  and  searchm-  par- 
ties went  along  the  shore  all  the  next  dav,   and   in    the 
Hfteruoon,  wieckage  which  told  the  tale  was  picked  up 


insroRY  OF  wKSTroRr  :u.^ 

ill  Coil's  hi\y.  My  grand  mot  her  was  a  girl  of  sixteen 
at  the  time,  and  the  midnight  '\vatch,  and  the  ^varniug 
of  tliose  unearthly  footsteps,  were  things  wliicli  she  al- 
uays  grew  pale  to  remember.  This  is  tlie  only  gliost 
story  I  have  ever  known  told  and  believed  among  onr 
t()\vuspeo}>le,  and.  I  novt  r  sns]>octod  that  it  was  known 
outside  my  own  family  until  the  old  Halste;id  house, 
tlien  the  michlle  {lovtion  of  the  Wo^tport  Inn.  was  torn 
down  in  1898,  and  some  of  the  older  people  standing  by 
ti>  see  it  done,  recalled  the  story  and  told  it  exactly  as 
my  mother  first  told  it  to  mo. 

Settlers  were  continually  coming  in  through  all  these 
}  ears,  and  in  1825  Leonard  7'aylor  came  from  New 
Hampshire  and  settled  near  Brainard's  Forge.  This 
part  of  the  town  was  largely  peojtled  from  New  Hamp- 
sl]ire,  as  George  and  Orrin  Sikiniier,  who  had  come 
sr)ine  tinje  before  this^  the  Pierces  and  tlic  Hodgkiuses, 
;dl  came  from  that  state. 

Oliver  Boutwoll  also  came  from  Xew  Hampshire  in 
this  year,  and  settled  near  AVadham's  Mills.  He  had  a 
hirge  family  of  children,  one  of  whom,  Lueinda,  born 
in  New  Hampshire  iu  1820,  marrie'l  first  Randall  Stone, 
.Liid  after  his  death  l)ecamethe  second  wife  of  Cyrenus 
J'l.  Payne.  Her  children  were  Edna  Stone,  afterward 
Airs.  Daniel  Carey  and  Ijucinda  and  Cornelia  Payne, 
the  former  now    Mrs.    John  HotTnagle,  of  this  place. 

l.S0(5. 

Town  MeetiiiLT  lieUi  in  the  .selioi!  house  at  North  West 
l:,sv. 


iiisri)i:y  (if  w Lsrruur 


(,'bafK-.-.  I'.aU-li.  SLijx-rvUof.  '     _. 

Sanuicl  Co'jk.  Jiui..  Tuu-n  (/ii>rk. 

Diadorus  iloicoait;.  (iidrou  iiaimnnLul.  Jesst'  IJramuii. 
Assessors. 

L^'vi  Frisbif.  Collector. 

Enos  LovclaLul  uQd  JoLin  LoImIcII.  Pnor  Mastors. 
'  fJariiabas  .Myrick.  Jnlui  Iviiiirsii'y.    l^lijab    Storrs,  HiLfh- 
wav  Commissiouei's. 

Diadorus  H(:>lcotiib.  Ira  It(Mj.ifrson.  Asaliel  Lyou.  Scbuul 
CoriimissioDt'rs. 

Diadorus  S.  Ho'c.M.!..  ChaiN.  15.  flateb.  Piatt  K.  lial- 
stead,  Schi>ul  Inspectors. 

Levi  I''risbi(\  Pialo  KiuLfsUy,  I 'aulinus  Finney.  Consta 
bles. 

Enos  LovHJand.  (;id.'(>u  Hanun.Kid.  Jobn  T.obdell,  F-M.ee 
Vie '.vers. 

Charles  II  Hateb.  Found  Masb-r. 

Overseers  ol'  i]i;/liuays.  -Aiiial  Mitcbeli,  Piatt  Sheldon, 
Ale.xaudei-  Sjiencr.  Cyrus  Richards,  F>benezer  Pulsivcr.- 
Diadorus  Flok-omb.  Elijah  Auijier.  George  W.  Sturlevant. 
Moses  Felt,  .Scuuuel  Dentou.  Sanuiol  A.  \\'ii2;-htmaa,  Jdbu 
Lobdell.  Johnsun  Hill,  Nathan  Wallace.  Gideon  Hammond. 
John  F.  Alexander.  Piillander  rtr.-,..ins,  Seth  Lewis,  Jonas 
Walker.  Joseph  Farnuni. 

A  new  road  ieadin-  •fnun  ( loner;. 1  A'^'adbanis  to  V>'il- 

lard  Hartwolls."      .Vnothcr    road    hef^ius   'vm   tlic   cast 

.side  of  lilack   riv.'r,""   and   we   Hiul   mention  of  "a  road 

ruuiiiiip-     tVom    S>uitli\Vfirs    Fnr^-e    southerly    towarils 

Steefs   Saw    ?>fill/"    and    the    "old    road    leadiu'^    from 

o 
Ha:is/."s  F.u-j^'e  easterly  t<.  X.  \\\  H.iy." 

Tlie  luetitioii  of  these  foij^es  reminds  us  that  the  iron 
business  was  now  Ij.-coiuiiiu;  more  and  more  im[)()rt;>nt. 
"Haa.s/.s  Foii^'e"  was  at  "the  Kin^dnm,"  in  Eli/abeth- 
town,  hi.i;h  up  (  n  the  jllodc  livev,  a.tid  Southwell's  was 
lower  d<j\vii  near  the  [thice,  1  Itelieve,  where  the  turn- 
pike now  i-rosses  the  river. 

This  vear  roacl  di^tri-t  N'o.     I')    i-    fcuiued,    to  "M.iei'ii! 


i//STn/:y  or  WKSTPO/rr  347 

.-it  William  P.  Mt-n-riarn's,  inn  north  by  \Valkpr  and 
Crarfu'ld's  Mill,  ami  east  to  the  town  line  by  Darins 
]Merriarn's."  This  wonKl  scoin  as  though  Darins 
Meiriam  liad  before  this  moved  from  wliere  he  first 
settled,  ou  the  western  slope  of  Coon  mountain,  pi-oba- 
biy  not  lou'j^  after  the  war  of  1^'J2,  to  the  jilace  where 
li^^  Vmilt  his  house  )"i])on  the  river  bank.  The  ^leiriams 
ea'iie  originrdly  from  l\fassnch.n-^''"'tts,  but  Pariu?  ?>b'r- 
riani  came  to  Westport  from  Essex,  and  his  wife, 
JLuseba  Potter,  came  from  Swanton,  Yt.  His  children 
^\ere  "Wijiiam  l*otter,  Tjovis;i.  Philetns  ]')arins,  Enos, 
Adney,  Delia,  Sarah  and  Jolm.  They  seen)  all  to  have 
^one  west,  soontji-  or  later,  except  AMlliam  and  l^liiletus 
who  carried  on  an  extensive  lumber  and  iron  business 
for  many  years  under  the  firm  name  of  SV.  P.  A"  P.  D. 
-NbMriam.  William  married  Caroline  Barnard  and  had 
two  sons  and  two  daughters.  He  built  the  cottage 
on  the  river  Vciid:  at  Aferriain's  F()rge,  still  ov.ned  bv 
hi<  daughter,  ^frs.  AVliitney.  Philetns  ^ff-rriam  lived 
on  tlie  other  side  of  the  river,  not  far  from  the  town 
Hue,  but  went  west  before  his  deatli. 

I  do  not  know  tlie  exact  connection  between  the  fam- 
ily of  Darius  Meriiam  and  that  of  Williaui  B.  Meriiam, 
(commonly  know?)  as  Deacon  Merriam,)  whose  name 
al<o  occurs  in  this  yeai-'s  records  as  a  resident  of  West- 
I'ort.  He  removed  to  Essex  in  1854.  His  wife's  name 
was  Iiebecca  Cook  Wiiitney.  and  it  was  his  son,  Gen. 
^Villiam  L.  Merriam,  who  carried  on  the  iron  works  in 
Lewis  A  daughter  of  Gen.  Mcrri.im  married  James 
\N'.  Str.K-or  L.uis.  ;,nd    her   da-i-hter    mo'vi-d    D.    F. 


iS4S 


iiisrui:y  uf  wEsrroirr 


riiyue  of  \V;i<lliaiiJ.s  :\Iill.',.  C^l.  -Icliii  L.  IMciriam,  sun 
uf  Ofii.  ^'eiriaui,  uiimicJ  Miiliala,  (lau;4iit<;r  of  Joseph 
it.  DcI>a.U(),  aii'l  afLfi-  lnu'  Joath  in  JS.V7  he  iciiioveJ 
to  St.  ]*aul,  Minn.,  ivpiuseuttjd  his  a(l()[)ttM]  ^tate  in 
Cougivs^,  and  was  Sl>.\iktM-  of  the  House,  iu  ISTO.  His 
son.  t!ie  IL.t;.  VVilliani  ^\\\^\\  .Aleiriani,  hMiu  iu  1S41»  at 
W'adhauis  Mills,  has  served  two  tenns  as  Governor  of 
Minnesota,  lias  rei)ve>.tni IahI  his  .statti  in  Ctiii^fess,  and 
is  now  Uirecti.tr  of  the  Census,  appointment  of  I'resi- 
'dent  ]\IeKinley. 

Ijj  Ma}-  of  iS'i',')  Jjevi  riiueo  oauie  from  Xew  Hanj[i- 
shire,  and  he  and  his  Ldiih.lren  settled  on  farms  near 
the  north  line,  iu  Lewis,  I'jssex  and  Westjiort.  His 
sons  were  l^evi,  Jr.,  Samuel,  William,  Charles,  Curlis, 
and  Harvey,  and  his  daughters  r\lary,  Maiia  and  Bet- 
sey. Tlie  latter  married  Captain  Samuel  Anderson,  one 
of  the  lake  captains,  and  hved  on  the  lake  shore  farm 
lunv  (j\vn-d  hy  IMr.  ]Je;id  of  ])oston.  j'ledr  daughter 
Aujanda  married  William  Williams,  [jevi  Pierce,  Jr.. 
was  the  father  of  Wallace,  and  Samuel  of  ^Martin  Tierce-. 
Harvey  Pierce  came  to  Westp<'»rt  as  a  clerl<  in  Hatchs 
stort',  afterward  huying  an  interest  in  the  Itnsiuess,  and 
later  was  in  paitnersjdp  with  ]''ianklin  Cutting.  He 
married  as  hi>,  si-cond  wife  [Margaret  .Vngier.  and  their 
children  were  Sarah,  wh.o  died  wiien  a  young  girl; 
Frank,  who  marri'Ml  Mav  Wvman  of  Crown  i'oint,  and 
has  three  children,  Howard.  Eloise,  and  In-atrice  ;  and 
Charles,  wlio  is  married  and  has  one  child.  Frank  and 
Clnirles  Pierce  are  now  paitutMs  iu  business  iu  Iowa. 

.Mav  o*.  iS-Jo,   I'.arnaJ'a-  M  vrick    and    C-n.     W.idiiams 


TIISrnRY  OF  WKSrrORT  lUU 

liuilt  a  largo  grist  nil]  at  ^Yadlla)ns,  \\\q  linest  yei  seeii 
in  town.  It>^  brick  v.alls  still  form  a  part  i)f  the 
present  mill. 

TtMVLi  Moetin<j  bold  \\\  tbo  sebool  bousp  at  Nortb  West 
]J;.y. 

(iuleun  HanHijOud.  Supervisor. 

Samuel  Cook,  Juii.,  Towu  Clerk. 

Diadorus  Holconib.  Jesse  Bi-amun  and  Alexander  Speu- 
cer.  Assessors. 

Levi  Frisbie,  Collector. 

Jobu  Lobdell  and  p]aos  Lovelaiid,  J'oor  Masters. 

JoliD  Kiuixsley.  Klijab  Newell,  E]>hraiia  Stiles,  Hitrbway 
Coiiimissiouers. 

William  Frisbie,  Timolby  Sbelclon,  Levi  Frisbie.  Calvin 
'Wiiley,  Constaoles. 

Asubel  LvoQ,  Diadorus  Hdlooaib,  Ira  Henderson.  Sebool 
Ciiinmissioners. 

Jason  Dunsti>r,  Elisba  Garfield,  Diadorus  S.  Holcoinl). 
Si-!it)ol  Inspectors. 

Caleb  P.  Cole.  Jolin  Lobdell  aiul  Ca,lvin  An^-ier.  Fence 
\'ie\vors. 

Flijab  Newell.  Pound  Master. 

Overseers  of  .Hicjb ways.— AdIliI  Mitcbell,  Piatt  SbeldiHi. 
Pi-ter  Tarbell.  Cyrus  Ricbards,  Caleb  P.  Cole.  Asabel 
Lvon.  Lutber  An^^ier.  Willard  Cbureb.  Moses  Felt.  Joel 
l-'inney,  Jobn  Danit^ls,  3rd,  Jobn  Lobdell,  Harvey  Sniitb. 
Aurum  Nicbols,  Willard  Carpenter.  Harry  Stone.  AVasb- 
iiiijtun  L^»e.  Eli  Ferris.  Myron  Cole.  James  Marsball.  War- 
ren JLirper. 

■'MyrieK's  for^'e  and  shop"'  are  mentioned  in  tbe  de- 
si-riptious  of  the  road  districts. 

This  year  a  new  school  district  was  formed,  and  "tin? 

I'rick  school  hrnise'"   was  built  on  the   road    f)pened   in 

1S2.'),  running  from  the  ])on'j;lass  wharf  westward   until 

it  joins   rioasant    street.      For    Tny    own    convenience  I 

inti-nd  to  i-all  tld-^    stii-.'t    '"i  )oiii.la-~s   .-ti-eol"    in    frdur.'. 


c*.5'> 


iiisTnnv  or  ]\j:sTj'i/irr 


jind  SI)  s;ivc  tlif  ciicuiiiiociitiou  of  a  trdiou-.  ilescri{«ti'Mi. 
DoubtK-ss  i\\>'  LonmlaiT  Ix-tv.eeii  tli;;  two  aistlicts  v.as 
the  hvuhy  across  Mill  brook.  Tliis  brick  scliool  h..u>.. 
c.ime  al'ttMwarJ  to  be  nsel  for  tlir  c:lass  m>>«,'t- 
inj^s  and  piHacliiiiL!;  services  of  ilie  M.  I'l  cliurcli.  !\Ir. 
S.  WLcatou  Cole  wrote  me  iu  LS'.19  :  "i  \w.ll  remember 
the  oKl  bii^tk  school  housf  in  tlu-  iiortli  of  the  vilia^.\ 
whtn-e  1  b.'nati  ieariiii),!^  mv  A.  15.  C"s  sevtiity-two  years 
a<:jo.  Tlit.'  ue.\t  yi-ar  1  b.-i^'aii  l)asiiiess,  [lickiliL,'  \viuti"i- 
i^-rfHii  lii'ri'ifs  ill  the  hcmloi-k  forests  north  of  the  town, 
ami  cxcliaii<4iij^  them  for  cauilv  with  IM win  ami  Ch;irh,-> 
fiatcl).  Mv  hither  was  killel  in  Sept.,'mb..r  of  38-2-. 
and  the  next  year  I  went  to  li\e  with  my  uncles,  Cah'i) 
ami  l\iii!  C'wle.  where  I  remained  twelve  years,  workiiJLj 
on  the  farm  ami  att»'n'lii>L:;  scliool  in  tin;  south  i>art  of 
the  vill;i;j,e.""  Mr.  Cole's  fatlier  was  killed  by  beiiiL; 
thrown  fi'o!)!  an  ox-cart  on  a  roun;h  road,  tlje  wlic  t 
pa.^sin^  o\tM-  his  (diest  and  >o  injuring  iinn  that  lie  difd. 
This  i!;ivfs  us  a  ,L;hm[>se  of  the  charactt^r  t)f  tho  roads  of 
th.it  day,  and  the  fact  that  he  u  as  taking  a  grist  to 
Wudhams  to  be  ground  go.'s  to  show  that  the  grist 
mills  at  X.trthwest  j>ay  were  ]>robai)lv  not  running.  Jl 
is  tiaiH  thai  the  usefulness  of  thest-earlv  giist  nulls  w.is 
but  sliort-liv(nl. 

'J'he  lii.--toiv  of  FrtM^  !Masoiirv  in  ii'sscx  county  began 
with  the  e.t.ddishmcnt  td'  J^ss.'X  Lo.lge  in  the  villag.'  ^>i 
Jv^se-x  in  bSOT.  in  iSLS  the  Valley  I.odge  at  Fdi/abrtii- 
town  rei-eivf'd  a  (dnirter.  Its  tlrst  olHt-ers  were  E/r.t  ( ', 
Gr.^ss,  \V.  M.;  Luman  Wadhan:.^,  S.  W.;  and  John 
l;arn.-\.    .).     W.      'rni>     is    th..     lod^e     u  ho.,.,     records 


« * 

were  carried  uway  in  llie  frtsliet  of  1830.  ;iu(l  wliicu 
(.loubtless  had  S'une  AVe.st[>ort  ihph  as  raenib^-rs.  Dia- 
ilorns  Holcorab  and  Ira  Henderson  were  ^Fasons,  I^avid 
r..  McNeil  belouii;ed  to  tlie'  Esstx  Lodgu,  and  the  uame 
of  Joel  Finney  is  also  fonud  n]>on  itr^  records.  Joseph 
CliII  is  said  to  have  tier!)  a  M.isou.  Meetings  of  tlie 
order  "»vere  held  from  time  to  time  \\\  West^iort,  in  a 
room  of  the  house  sino'  ]:uouii  as  the  .Hichard.s  Ilonse, 
on  Pleasant  street.  There  Thomas.  Douglass  wa-S 
initiated  into  the  mysteries  of  the  order  in  the  year 
1S"2.'),  as  his  daughter,  now  3Irs.  James  A.  Allen,  dis- 
tinctly remembers  hearing  him  say.  The  only  record 
which  1  have  been  fortunate  enougli  to  tJnd  is  that 
given  in  the  List  P'ssex  Count v  History,  on  }»age  323  : 
"Ro3-al  Arc)]  Masonry  in  the  county  began,  it  would 
seem,  with  tlie  establishment  of  A\'estport  Chapter  No. 
127.  at  West[)ort,  February  27,  1S27,  with  Josepli  Cook, 
Hi-h  Priest,  OirisPier,  King,  ami  C;dvin  Willey,  Scribe, 
After  making  re})oi-ts  to  the  Grand  Chapter  for  two  years 
it  disappears  from  the  records."  None  of  the  names 
gisen  are  those  of  Westpnjrt  njen.  It  is  possible  that 
the  strong  Auti-Musonic  excitenieut  which  followed  the 
disappearance  of  Morgan  in  lS2r.  may  have  ojierated 
against  the  ]jrosperous  continuance  of  this  order  at 
this  time.  The  present  lodge  was  established  in  1852. 
This  year  was  the  "first  great  revival"  of  the  churches, 
and  the  ^Af^i  camp  meetiiig.  The  cam{>  m(>etiug  was 
held  on  the  little  woo-le,!  point  on  the  north  shore  of  the 
bay,  on  the  borders  of  tl>e  "'Si^eo  f.arm,"  named  fron\ 
thi'  family  who  livcTl  >)n  t!i  •  hill  ah.-ve  ii.      Here  a  plat- 


.  •■>'>-  Ills  rum'  or  wi:sri'(,'irr 

forui  was  built  uuder  tlir  trees  for  tlio  pveuL-hers,  wh) 
t^xhortfd  a  cojigr-'i^iition  sr;i,lt;>l  ou  Ioul;  [,l:iiiks  whi.-h 
were  siij. ported  by  sl,>iirs  and  blocks,  with  uo  ro,,f 
overhead  save  the  leafy  bi-auehe.s  of  the  ti'Oes.  The 
camp  ineeiin.L'  hehUor  ..n.'  or  two  weeks,  aud  i^ee-jili. 
came  from  far  am]  near,  from  the  Yermotit  shore,  from 
Lewis  aiiil  Kssex,  from  iJarber's  Point  aud  Wadham's 
Mills,  put  ap  teats  aud  bark  roofed  shanties  for  shelter. 
;iud  lived  there  ou  tfie  lake  shore  the  whole  time,  listen- 
ing to  sernjons  and  to  the  testimonies  of  converts  ail 
day  lo)i_^%  with  the  cnlminarion  ot  the  day's  excitenjent 
invariably  looked  for  at  t;ie  evenin-  sei-vice,  lighted  1/v 
the  olare  ot  great  tlamin-  t-nches  of  pitch  piue.  Th- 
preachers  were  <;f  all  .lenominations,  called  iu  alonu 
both  shoies  of  the  l;ike.  ;tnd  their  labors  were  rewafl^'-l 
with  a  large  number  of  converts.  The  rec.jrds  of  our 
village  churches  show  a  -r.'at  increase  in  mmd^er-iii;; 
in  this  and  the  next  year,  and  both  must  have  so:)u 
doubled  their  ]iniul)ers. 

Thnre  is  doubtless  a  close  connection  between  this 
revival  and  the  fae-t  that  in  this  year  the  Congregational 
church  was  first  orgaui/e^l  at  Wadhaiu's  Mills.  If  then- 
IkhI  lieeu  a  Congregational  society  there  before  thi< 
time,  it  was  not  in  a  tloniishing  condition,  and  tier.- 
are  no  traces  of  it  left.  Mv  eiV  >rts  to  obtain  the  earlv 
records  of  this  chnrcli  have  been  unavailing,  the  pres- 
ent clerk  having  in  his  ])ossessiot]  nothing  older  than 
the  book  begijining  in  18U.  Smith's  historv  of  IS-^o 
gives  the  nam.s  of  the  original  niemliers  of  18-27  <> 
J.iuuan   \\"a  liiams,  Calvui   U'd.y,  .fe-^s.;    Ihamaii,    Ahv- 


HISTORY  or  ]vj:sTJ'0/rr  .^...v 

aiider  Whituoy  uiul  Tlioiuas  Iladlcy,  the  cl-iti^  of  ihe 
lii.sl  looetiiig  March  20,  18'.^7,  auJ  the  phice  the  school 
liou.se  "near  tlio  re:-i(leuce  of  Jesse  Brainaii." 

Besides  the  increase  in  nienibership,  thei-e  is  shown 
in  the  Baptist  records  a  mounting  zeal  in  the  rnattei-  of 
church  discipliue.  Serious  business  it  was  felt  to  be, 
and  seriously-  tliey  did  if,  appoi)iting  solemn  commit- 
tees ti)  visit  delinquents,  and  taking  action  u])on  the 
reports  rendered  at  the  next  church  meeting,  but  to  one 
of  the  j/rescnt  generation  a  smile  seems  never  far  away 
when  reading  these  deliberations,  in  which  a  neglect  to 
attend  church  was  dealt  with  as  weightily  as  more 
flagrant  offences.  Poor  Jos'epli  Stacey,  waited  upon  by 
one  of  these  cfMumittees,  confessed  t  )  working  on  board 
his  bojit  on  Sunday,  instead  of  dressing  up  and  going 
to  church,  and  so  we  know  that  one  of  tiie  white  sails 
in  the  bay  belonged  to  him. 

Dr.  Cutting  lurs  left  an  account  of  this  revival  which 
shows  in  perfection  the  quiet,  sincere  dignity  of  his  own 
faith,  which  never  descended  t;)  small  anxieties  about 
the  inconsistencies  of  others. 

■']ti  lS'26-27  occuried  a  revival  in  Westport.  It  was 
r<.unarkable  in  character.  Beginning  in  the  early  au- 
tumn of  LS2(),  in  a  very  general  seriousness  in  the  com- 
munity, it  continued  through  the  winter.  ]Mauy  were 
baptised,  myself  on  the  last  Sabbath  in  ^[ay,  by  the 
liev.  Jereuiy  H.  Dwyer,  })a,^tol•  of  the  Baptist  churcli 
in  thiit  village.  I  can  hardly  tell  how  I  became  more 
deeply  interested  in  religion.  1  think  my  own  state 
of   mind  an  1   fcidiu''    were   in    h.trinonv   from    the    tirst 


.v.T-/  iiisTdin'  ()/■'  wrs'r/'n/rr 

^vitl^  the  >;i'nv,  itii;-  illto!■o^^t■  \vl)ifli  porvarlc-il  tliO  coinmn- 
iiity.  Tj(in,i;  afterwards  I  ItMrDtul  lliaf  on  vetiiiiii^  from 
tlio  water,  ^J  ]■.  Dwyur  reiiiarkeJ,  '1  luuo  uaptised  a 
niiiiister  to-Jay.'  " 

18--^.-r5.       ' ■ 

Town  Meeting  in  the  school  house. 

Gideon  FIcMiifriund,  Supr-rvisor.  '' 

Saoiuel  Coo!:.  .Tun.,  Town  Clerk. 

Je.sso  Brauiau.  Piatt  R.  IJaUtcad,  Ephraita  Stiles,  As- 
sessors. 

Levi  Frisbie.  Collector. 

Jason  Dunster,  Diadorus  Hulcomb,  Ahioson  Barber, 
IIi;^Mi wav  ConKnissioniM's. 

Levi  Fnsiiie.  William  Frisbio.  Ca.lvii]  Willry.  Constal-.les. 

Flisiia  Gartieid.  \Vm.  I>.  Merriatn,  Alt-xaadcr  Sptmct-r, 
Sehuol  Conunissioucrs. 

Diadorus  S.  tTolcoiul).  Asahel  Lyon.  Piatt  R.  Halstead, 
Srhool  Inspectors. 

JoliU  Greeley,  Isaac  Stone.  Caleb  P.  Colo,  t-'caee  Mewers. 

Xewtoa  l-Iavs,  JAa.ind  .Master. 

Overseers  ;.[  I  fi.L'li  wjivs.- Kalph  AValte.n.  Levi  Coll. 
L'niou  C(->il.  Ti!liugba.st  Cole,  Ciileb  P.  Cole,  Willard  Car- 
penter. John  Greehyy.  Jr.,  Myron  Cole,  Eioa^ar  Pauney. 
Sainnei  Cliandlcr.  Geore"c  W.  S(  urtevant,  Lemuel  Wbiuiey, 
Jjucius  Lobdeil.  Oliver  11.  Larrett.  Samuel  A.  WiL'btruan, 
John  Kingsley.  JobasDu  Plill.  Lyman  Smith.  Gideon  Ham- 
mond, Henry  Stime,  Frederick  llDwui'd.  Arehey  Dunton, 
lOlijah  Shernuui.  Jonas  P.  Walker.  Abi-am  (Jreeley,  Geo. 
Skinner,  Henajah  r.)ou>.:'lass. 

This  year  we  find  mention  of  another  mill   on    BLick 

river, — Ohauncy  Fuller's,  Ix-siiJes    "Steel's,  Douf^lass'p. 

A-  Smith  and  Hatcii's."'     The    bridrro   in   the   villaj^e  of 

Xcjrtiiwest  Bay  which  has  been  so   lonp;    rofe^rred    to   as 

that  one  "west  of  ILdstead's  old   iield,"    now    bee;ins    to 

he  called  the  on»'  "near  ]Myri(d;'.>^  P(it;\s]t,"  and    for  the 

lirst  time  is  uj.-ntion.'d  Dou-he-s's  wh.irf. 


IIJSTOHY  OF   WESTl'Oirr  36^ 

In  18'2S  Giv.le('ii  ll;imni>iiul  was  ouo  ui  u  ccuuiijittet; 
of  tlilfe  apjn.)ii.t<xl  to  d.'cid*'  lipoli  the  qiie.-^tlnii  of  biiikl- 
iujl  a  countv  lioa.so  for  the;  c;ue  of  tbe  poor  of  the- 
<'oanty.  'J'lit-  house  was  l)uilt  in  18o3,  and  from  tliat 
year  until  1842  he  siirveJ  as  County  Suporintondent  of 
tlie  Poor. 

This  year,  ov  the  one  Ijcfove,  John  and  Ahrani  Gree- 
ley came  into  town,  as  is  proved  \)\  their  both  beinj^ 
appointed  ovt'Vseers  of  hi^diways.  Tliey  were  sons  of 
John  Greeley,  who  was  l)orn  iu  1759,  and  fouglit  as  u 
boy  of  sixteen  at  the  Inittle  of  Bunker  Hill  He  was  a 
h;df  brother  of  the  father  of  Horace  Greeley,  the  fa- 
mous jt)ui-nalist.  He  removed  from  Now  Hampshi»-e 
to  ;r^aiato;:;a  county,  and  from  that  place  to- J>rooktield, 
in  Essex,  before  the  war  of  1812,  and  he  died  in  1852, 
liaviui^  lived  ninety-three  years.  His  son  John  fouoht 
iu  tlu'  war  >•!'  ]>^]2,  and  was  wounded  in  the  shouldt-i' 
at  the  battle  of  riattsbarjj;h,  nftfi-ward  reeeiviue,  a  })eu- 
sion." 

TowTi  nifetiii',''  in  the  school  house 
(.iiih'on  tlamruoiid.  Supeivisor. 
.John  [hitL-h   f/.w.  Clerk-. 

A!ex;m(U-t' S|ii'ni-er,  iMadorus  Holcomb.  .Irssr  nranian. 
Assessors. 

•He  was  the  father  of  James,  and  of  Ruth,  who  married  Henry  Frisbie.  Abram 
Greeley  was  the  father  of  John  J.  Greeley,  now  a  resident  of  Westport.  Three 
daug-htcrs  of  the  first  John  Grceiey  ma -ried  and  lived  in  Westport.  N.-incy  mar- 
ried William  Olds,  and  their  sons  were  Wallace  and  Marshall.  Mary  ni.arried 
William  Viall,  and  their  children  werejohu  G.,  Asa,  Mrs.  Orlando  Sayre,  after- 
ward Mrs.  W  hitney,  and  the  first  Mrs.  F.  H.  Page.  Phebe  married  Elijah  ".Vill 
iams,  and  their  sons  were  SamueJ  aiidjossjih,  boatmen  on  the  I.-ike  for  nia;iy  year* 
.inii  A,  fc-lijah,  one  r.f  our  dru^j^^Uts. 


.•>'•:/.•  N/srn/n'  of  wKsrrcnn' 

John  CLatKller,  Collrctpf. 

John  Lobdnll  an. I  Cw'nrL^e  V,.  Rfvnnlds.  Poor  Musters. 

Alansou  Barber.  Asah.4  Lyon.  John  Kinusie-y.  Hi<j:[iwuy 
Cotnmis.siourv.-.. 

Cbuflcs  |{at(h.  Diadorus  S.  Holcoinb.  DaT'iaubas  Myrick, 
School  Comniissioncfs. 

Asiihol  Lyon,  Caleb  C.  Eafnes,  Joseph  R.  Delano.Sch.ool 
]  nsp^>L'lofs. 

B.  P.  Douylass.  Norris  McKinncy.  Siimnor  Whitinj;-. 
l-"encp  \'iev/ers 

William  Vri-^bif.  Pelpr  Tarb;-'!.  John  Chandier,  Joseph 
Ifardy,  John  \).  Loodell,  Constables. 

Xeu'toQ  Bays,  Pound  Master. 

Overseers  ot  llie  Ili^-hwavs.— Joseph  Bicralov.-.  Elihu  H. 
Cole,  Charles  Fisher.  Johu'Ferris,  Caleb  P.  Cole.  John  H. 
Low,  John  Greeley.  Moses  Bull.  Calvin  Angier.  Hetivv 
fJoyee,  Bildad  Royce.  Lemuel  Vx'hituey,  Benjuuiin  Hardy. 
Auijustiis  Hill,  Vine  T.  Bin<^'hani.  Samuel  Storrs.  Leonard 
Ware,  Auram  Xiehols.  I.  udrew  Frisbie.  Jonathan  Niehols. 
Ne!s(rn  Low,  Solomon  Stockwell.  Setb  Lewis.  Darius  Mer- 
riam,  James  Marshall.  Ijucius  Lobdell.  Nathaniel  Flinkley. 

Voted  .-r^ldi.)  for  the  support  of  the  poor. 

Town  meotinp;  adjournetl  to  tlie  house  ot  Klijah  New- 
ell, whioh  stood  on  I'ieasant  street.  Affer  lioldiug  tlie 
town  meetings  for  twelve  vi'avs  in  tlie  all-accommrx;!;!- 
ting  school  liou>,..',  the  custinii  wa.-^-  adopted  of  holding 
tlietn  in  some  inn,  and  maintained  until  LSG:},  when  the 
Armory  was  first  used. 

We  notice  the  name  of  Norris  McKenny,  who  was  a 
tailor,  and  built  the  house  just  m-rth  of  the  Thiptist 
church,  burned  in  ]S7(),  which  answ<-rs  to  the  Baptist 
parsoaa^e  of  to-d  ly.  \X  wis  at:'refward  own-*!  bv  Dm 
Kent,  l)y  llalph  Love-land  and  by  Victor  Spencer. 

In  18'2'.>  wa.s  jutl'lished  the  first  map  of  Essex  county, 
by  David  H.  Burr,  with  statistics  from  the  latest  cen- 
sus given    :'t  til.'    Ih.ttom.       >lr'V     W^•stpol■t     i-    ..Toditel 


IIISTOHY  OF  WFSTl'Oirr  3r,7 

w  itli  haviiiL,'  al)ont  oue-fifth  of  tlio  Liiid  iiupn^voil.  Real 
.'■otiite  is  valued  at  686,423,  ami  pergonal  piopurty  at 
sl,400.  There-  were  075  males  aiul  G-17  females  in  the 
populatioD,  1G7  svibject  to  nnlitia  duty,  and  287  enti- 
tled to  vote  at  elections.  There  were  eleven  school 
districts  iu  tow  ii,  scliool  had  been  ke|)t  an  a\era;.!:e  of 
six  months  in  tlie  ye;ir,  and  the  amount  of  ])uV>lic  money 
received  was  eiOl.lG.  121  children  had  been  tau-ht  in 
the  scliools  the  past  year,  and  there  were  reported  3-10 
children  between  the  ages  of  5  and  15.  As  for  live 
stock,  there  were  1550  neat  cattle,  237  horses,  and  3501 
sheep.  The  most  remarkable  figures  are  those  of  the 
number  of  yards  cf  cloth  of  domestic  manufacture. 
woven  by  the  women  on  hand  looms.  3282  yards  of 
fulled  cloth,  1015  yards  of  woolen  cloth  not  failed,  and 
2G59  yards  of  cotton  and  linen.  Think  of  those  women, 
with  their  large  families  to  caie  for,  standing  at  tiie 
loom  (lay  aft'-^r  day,  and  we-iving  the  blankets  and 
siieets  for  the  be(.ls,  and  the  lintiu  for  the  table-cloths, 
and  clothing  f'U-  themselves  and  for  their  husbands  and 
children..  And  they  spun  the  thread  before  they  wove 
it,  remember,  and  carded  the  wool  before  that,  although 
the  two  cai-ding  machines  in  town  were  by  this  time  re- 
lieving them  of  some  of  this  ])ait  of  the  toilsonie  [)ro- 
cess.  And  this  Ix^mespun,  home  woven  wurk  was  often 
very  beautiful,  as  pieces  of  the  linen  still  preserved  will 
show.  Only  one  giisL  mill  is  reported,  whicli  njust 
have  been  tliat  oi  ^lyrick  and  Wadhams  at  the  Fails, 
and  this  seems  to  prove  that  Hatch's  two  grist  mills 
at  Xoilhwest  i'av  and  the  one*   :it   < 'oil's    P.av    were    no 


.V.)^' 


iiismin'  nr  \r/:s77'fj/rr 


lonrjer  rm.niug.  Also,  (i,o,v  is  but  oik-  "iron  works" 
n'portfd,  wliich  must  t.ioaii  >ryrifk's  fnyy,'  at  the  Falls, 
and  would  indicate  that  all  the  f.v.-gcs  on  the  ])lack 
river  \v(  re  now  idl,..  ();„.  t)'ip  liainmer  is  irport.-d, 
eleven  saw  mills,  three  rulliu^  mills,  two  eardin,^  ma- 
chines, no  dist, I!,., w,  tour  asheries  and  on.'  oifmill. 
What  an  oil  mill  in  Westport  can  have  been  1  cannot 
i!na-in...  TU-ir  wpie  two  post  otTices  then,  as  now,  West- 
port  and  Wudham's  .Mills. 

Jo.SL'ph  It.  I),.Lano,  whoso  uame  is  now  fn-^t  mention. -d 
iu  the  to^^n  leecuds,  came  from  Tieonderoa,.,  and  open, 'd 
a  store  and  inn  at  Wadham's  Mills.  H,,  was  a  son  of 
Nathan  DeLauo,  -Jnd  I.iiutenant  in  Capt.  Mackenzie's 
cavalrv  company  in  the  war  of  181-2,  an<]  brother  of 
Thoinas  DeLano  of  Ti.  Wo  soon  find  liis  nan)e  -iven 
a.s  the  incunilu'nt  of  many  town  ollices,  and  in  1^:41  ],,. 
was  elected  tlie  first  supervisor  from  the  villa-e  of 
Wu.lhams.  ills  lirst  wih,  was  a  Kiniptoi..  of  Ti"  and 
their  dau-hter  Maliala  n:arrn-d  Col.  John  L.  .Aferriam. 
afterward  Governor  of  .^;inne^ota.  His  second  wife 
\\as  IteJief  Law.  and  their  children  were  :  Electa,  mar- 
ried Walter  3Ienill  of  Tort  Henrv  ;  Albertine,'  married 
Duncan  TlKunpson,  now  lives  in  Washin-tou  ;  Rusii. 
drowned  in  the  J^„,4net  when  a  boy,  and'\vntoinette! 
n)arried  Isaac  Wood  of  Wadhams. 


Town  nieetin-  li-UI  at  t!,e  Inn  of  l-:iijah  Xeweli 
(•idcon  {Jainmonil.  Supervisor. 
JoIhi   II     r,,,u-.  Town  Clerk. 


iiisroRY  OF  wh'STJ'oirr  3on 

Pkitt  R.  IJiastead,  Cbarles  Fisher  and  JuLni  Kin^'sk'V. 
AssfssDrs. 

Williaai  Frisbio.  Collecior. 

Geoi't^'c  B.  RevDold.s  aud  l^arnabas  ]\Iyi'ii.-k.  OverscfM-.s 
of  the  Ptx^r. 

Hezekiah  Jvjrber.  Nc.vtun  Hays.  Calvia  Angiei-,  High- 
way Coaimissiouei's. 

Ira  Heiidei'son.  Joel  A  Calhoun,  Charles  Hatch.  School 
Couimissiouers. 

Diadorus  S.  Ikilcoiiib,  Joseph  K.  DeLano,  Asahel  I^yor], 
School  lns[)ector.-^ 

Wm  Frisbie.  Jostfph  Hardv  and  Asahel  Lvoa,  Cousta- 
bles. 

Xev.'tou  Hayes.  Pound  Master. 

No  fence  viewers,  and  the  first  Justices  of  the  Peace 
mentioned.  The  entry  in  the  town  records  is  certified 
to  by  three  Justices.  Diadorus  Holconib,  Jesse  Bramau 
and  Alexander  Spencer. 

Overseers  ot  Hi<,'h\vays.  or  Pathniaslers  — Apollos  Wil- 
lian»s,  Jr..  Levi  Coll.  Jr..  Charles  Fisher.  Asahel  Havens, 
Caleb  \\  Cole.  Asahel  Lyon.  Elijah  Williams.  Horace  Hol- 
comb,  William  Olds,  Samuel  Chandler,  James  Fortune, 
Francis  Hardy,  Jason  Dunstcr.  Au;_n.istus  Hill.  Samuel  A. 
"Wiy-htman.  John  T,(.)bdell.  Johnson  Hill.  Abraham  Nichols. 
Andrew  Fiisaie.  Henry  Stone.  James  McConle}',  Archey 
l)unton,  Elijah  Sherman,  Ejihiain'.  Colburu,  James  Mar- 
shall. Lucins  Lobdell,  Nathaniel  Hinckley.  Leonard  Ware. 
Jonathan  Cady. 

We  find  mentioned  ''Colburu's  Mill,"  one  belonging 
to  Chester  Taylor,  and  one  to  Garfield  and  Walker. 

A  new  road  district  i.s  made,  No.  38,  "beginning  at 
the  lane  west  of  Xatlian  Wallis's,  tlieu  running  north 
and  east  V)y  James  Pollard's,  Erastus  Loveland's,  Leon- 
ard Ware's  and  Eldad  Kellogg's,  until  it  intersects  t'.h; 
Court  Hoase  road."  Still  "Sliei'man's  brook,"  which 
was  the  I'laytiioiul  bi'ook,  called  in  its  U[-»por  course  the 
Stacy  brook. 

Th  ■  docado  of  the  thirties  saw  tl:e  height  of  the  luui- 


:i<>0'  HISTORY  OF  WEsrr Of rr 

ber  busiucss.  Myriek  ;ind  W.'ulhams,  tlie  Douglasses 
uDd  the  IT.-itclie.s  ii\\\Q  t'niployrnent  to  large  numbers  of 
iiieu  in  tlie  forests,  aiul  upon  the  road.s,  liauliug  logs  to 
the  njills  and  the  "d(H.-k  sticks"  and  the  sawed  lumber 
to  the  wharves.  All  this  brought  custom  to  the  stores 
which  were  kept  by  Hatch  and  Douglass-  and  Cutting. 
and  by  Myriek  and  AYadhams  at  the  Falls,  and  the 
boal-lo.ids  of  ineichandise  from  Nt-w  York  began  to 
contain  more  and  more  articles  of  luxury.  By  this  tinie 
there  wei-e  no  log  houses  left  in  the  village  of  North- 
west Bay,  though  many  were  still  .standing  on  outlying 
farms,  and  some  of  the  best  houses  in  town  were  built 
before  1835.  Most  of  the  brick  liouses  belong  to  this 
period,  and  the  heavy-timbered  fi'ame  houses,  like  the 
one  now  owned  by  Dr.  Shattuck,on  Washington  street. 
The  Ba[)tist  chui-ch  was  built  this  year,  the  first  church 
edifice  iu  town,  on  the  hill  at  the  toj)  of  Washington 
.street,  opjiosite  the  house  now  occupied  by  Ylr.  C;ise 
Howard.  The  latter  place  was  then  owned  by  Piatt 
Piogers  Halstead,  who  kept  a  bachelor's  establishment, 
with  a  middle-aged  houskee[)er,  always  known  as  "Aunt 
Meliuda,"  though  she  was  no  relative,  and  his  sister  Car- 
oline, then  a  girl  of  twtMity-one.  She  beg:in  keeping  a 
diary  the  tirst  of  July,  and  on  the  ninth  she  writes, 
"Yesterday  our  meeting  house  was  raised.  Everything 
went  on  in  good  order.  A  prayer  was  made  at  the 
commencement  by  Ehlcr  Isaac  Sawyer.  \Ye  witnessed 
the  good  ctfect.s  ()f  teuiporance,  as  no  ardent  spirits  was 
drank  on  the  grmind."  It  was  indeed  a  novelty  toha\e 
ui)  liipnn-  at  a  "raising,"  and    this    incident    shows  that 


HISTOin'  OF  ]VI:sT!'OI:T  ar,] 

toinpt''r.'Mice  f\.s  a  priitci])l(\  ;iiil1  not  simply  as  a  niatler 
of  individual  choice,  was  be,<:^inuiiv.';  to  be  advauced. 
Tliat  it  was  literally  but  a  begiuniiig  could  not  be  sliown 
more  conclusively  tbau  by  the  following;  iucideut,  re- 
lated by  Dr.  S.  S.  Cutting  twenty  years  after,  wlicu 
he  was  a  Professor  in  lioehester  University. 

"My  earliest  recollection  of  the  Pi(n-.  Isaac  Sawyer  is 
associated  witli  an  incident  illustrative  of  his  charac- 
ter. It  was,  I  think,  iu  the  summer  of  1S27,  before  the 
tender  of  the  cup  had  ceased  to  be  an  acknowledged 
juirt  of  the  hospitalities  of  a  Cliristian  family.  The 
minister  of  our  church,— the  Baptist  cluirch  in  \Yest- 
port,  N.  Y., — had  resigned,  and  Mr.  Sawyer  had  been 
invited  to  visit  the  place  with  a  view  to  the  pjastoral 
otlice.  He,  with  tlie  retiring  minister,  was  a  guest  at 
niy  father's  house,  butweeii  the  services  of  the  Sabl)ath 
day.  I,  as  the  boy  on  whom  tliat  duty  naturalh"  de- 
^ol^■ed,  V, as  directed  to  bear  to  our  lieverend  visitors 
the  refreshment  of  brandy  and  water,  wiLh  sugar  at- 
tached; and  this  1  did  without  a  thought  to  that  mo- 
ment of  any  connection  between  conscience  and  drink- 
ing, except  that  conscience  forbade  intemperate  drink- 
ing. ^Vith  the  air  of  ;3.  true  gentleman,  quietly  but 
friendly,  Mr.  Sawyer  declined  the  cup.  "It  is  a  point 
of  conscience  with  m(%"  said  the  already  venerable  man; 
"'I  have  united  with  some  of  my  brethren  iu  an  obliga- 
tion to  abstain  entirely."  '"A  ptunt  of  conscience  I" 
thought  the  astonished  boy, — and  he  never  forgot  the 
lesson,  or  ceaseel  to  honour  the  minister  of  reli>j:ion 
from  wl.MS-  lij.s  tln.s.-    few    words    \y.u\    !;ill.'U.      Thank 


iiisriiCY  OF  WFsrroirr 


llfnvt'U,  thr  cu])  rc'iiifd  to   ho   jiiuong    the   liospitnlities 
<jf  tl);it  Ijotne. 

Stories  are  toKl,  aiul  triic  ones  too,  of  tlie  uuiiistr.-r 
L-allin--  ;it  .-^onu'  ]).>usr  \\\\w.h  was  tompoi arily  destitiup 
of  spirits,  a/ia  of  thf  siD.ill  boy  of  tlie  f;uui!y  l.eiuK 
^^l)UJ^'^'I.■^l  out  of  the  pantry  wimlow  and  seiU  iu  j^^reat 
secrecy  for  a  new  supply,  all  hopini;  that  tlip  iniuistf-r 
niiiiht  not  suspect,  as  hc^  drank  uitli  them  the  soci.il 
i:;1ass,  tiiat  it  way  not  drawn  frouj  their  own  celhir.  Mr. 
J.  S.  Boy]it(jn  tells  a  story  of  a  house  inJay,  in  the  wall 
of  whieli  the  owner  injbt-dded  a  bottle  of  whiskv,  and 
then  bricked  it  over,  saying,  "Jt  shall  never  be  .-aid  ..f 
me  that  I  was  at  any  time  discovered  without  liquo]-  in 
the  house."  I  never  heard  of  such  extreme  ujeasures 
bein^'  taken  in  this  town  to  escape  the  social  disgrace 
of  the  times,  but  all  these  things  show  the  condition  of 
]>iiblic  opinion. 

Elder  Isaac  -Sawyer  was  called  to  }»reaeh  in  April  i.f 
l8-2-^,  autl  was  pastor  of  tln^  chiuvdi  six  years,  receivinu', 
according  to  tlie  church  hook,  the  sahuy  of  >'200  a  year, 
wiiich  was  the  laigest  ,-alary  yet  i>aid  up  to  that  time. 
Wiiile  he  was  heie  !iis  sou  Allies  married  Caroline  Hal- 
stead,  and  his  daughter  Mary  married  Austin  Hickok. 
Elder  Sawyer  lived  iu  the  iionse  ou  \V,:shiugton  street 
now  owned  by  Dr.  Charles  Holt,  and  it  would  seem  to 
liave  been  built  for  him  since  my  giandnnjther  writes 
one  day  of  calling  on  Mr.s.  Ira  Henderson,  and  adds,  • 
"^Irs.  fi.  came  with  me  over  the  bridge  as  far  as  the 
Elder's  ni:w  house. '" 

'this  diary  gi\">  pie  i>ant  giimp>es  of    tlie  S(jcial    lift; 


iiisTom'  OF  WFsrroirr  .v6-.v 

of  tiio  placo  foi-  one  ^-ear.  Tliesc  were  tho  clays  wlu-ti 
matches,  envelopes  and  steel  pens  were  stiH  unknown, 
and  the  only  means  of  licjliting  was  by  tallow  caudles, 
dipped' or  moulded  in  each  household  by  hajid,  wax 
candles  being  brought  from  the  city  for  extraordinary 
occasions.  The  parlor  candle-sticks  had  become  very 
elaborate  affairs,  arranged  with  circles  of  hanging 
prisms  to  reliect  the  liglit  and  add  brilHancy  to  the 
room.  Wall  paper  was  still  unknown,  Init  T  doubt  if 
tlicre  were  wainscoted  walls  in  Westport,  although  a 
wainscot  half  way  up  the  wall,  with  plaster  above  it,  is 
seen  in  all  tho  old  houses.  The  height  of  fashion  in 
china  was  tlie  beautiful  flowing  blue,  of  which  so  few 
]iieccs  have  survived. 

The  women  wore  the  short-waisted  dresses,  with 
skirts  short  and  scant,  showing  feet  clad  in  the  thinnest 
of  slipper^  and  beautifully  cl  ckrd  stockings.  The  ntck 
and  aims  wei'e  commonly  left  bare,  and  a  cape  carried 
on  the  arm  to  throw  over  the  shouhhu's  when  it  was 
cold.  Perhaps  this  style  of  dress  might  account  some- 
what for  the  number  of  deaths  by  consumption  in  those 
(\nly  years  of  the  century.  Tlip  hair  was  worn  in  high 
juifl's  and  curls,  with  a  high  l-ack  comb,  and  sometimes 
with  a  curl  falling  each  side  of  the  face.  The  men  wore 
high  stocks,  and  their  dress  coats  were  cut  away  in  front 
(<»  show  the  most  elaborate  waist  coats.  Their  hair 
w;is  allowed  to  grow  long  enough  to  brush  straight  up  in 
front  and  to  curl  back  behiml  the  ears  in  a  nnmner 
mn<di  admired.  Th(^  trons.Ts  wei'e  held  neatly  in  place 
ovi  r  tile  l.toots  by  straps  nn/l'-r  fhc  i!istL[),  and   the    hat 


\lil 


msTonY  or  wKsrrmrr 


was  bell-crownt  i]  with  ciiiliij;j;  hriisi.  llntllcd  .-^liiit 
fronts  wcif  conijil(t.,ly  out  of  f.ishion,  Init  weiv  still 
worn  l)y  some  (.f  tlu'  older  nit-u,  aud  John  Halstoa  1 
wore  ioi);:;  liosr  iiiul  silver  hucklcd  shovs  as  long  as  Ik- 
lived.  His  sou  Piatt  nevt-r  wore  an  overcoat,  l>ut 
wrapped  Lis  military  cloak  about  his  spare  figure  wlien 
the  weatiier  was  incleui^-ut,  and  it  is  ])artly  on  this  a-- 
count  th;it  J  am  told  by  [Jcoph-  wlio  reiuend)er  liitn  that 
he  strongh-  resembled  the  portrait  of  Yon  M(;lth«.  Tho 
wonjen's  bonnets  wei't-  tlie  great  flariug  "pokes,"  which 
stayed  in  fashion  so  many  yei\rs,  though  the  shapes 
changed  slightly,  so  that  a  tine  Li-ghorn  V)onnut  might 
be  bleached  and  "done  over'"  on  a  new  Ijlock  from  the 
city  as  often  as  once  in  two  or  thiee  years,  and  it  is  no 
exaggeration  to  say  that  such  a  b(tnnet  was  (jften  worn 
ten  years  without  tear  of  comment  from  one's  neigh - 
b.^rs.  Jn  the  simple  lit^  of  th.e  little  lak.-  shore  villag,-, 
peojjh-  had  [)lcnty  of  leisure,  and  my  grandnKjthtr's 
diary  lecords  many  an  afternoon  \isit,  with  neighbors 
coming  in  uninvited  to  si)end  th^■  evening  in  pleasant 
idiat.  On  more  formal  occasions  you  were  invited  f.u- 
the  afternoon  and  to  stay  to  tea,  like  the  companv 
which  Mrs.  Katy  Scudilci-  invites  in  the  first  cha}>ter  of 
'"I'lje  Minister's  Wooing."  Mrs.  Stowe's  ilescri]:ition  of 
manners  and  con\ersation  might  liave  been  given  of 
Westport  in  the  tliiities,  when  it  was  fti(|Uette  to  prais(> 
everything  on  the  table,  beginning  with  the  weaving  of 
the  linen,  u  liich  was  of  course  the  wt)rk  of  your  hr^stess, 
ainl  in  jierfectly  g.xid  f<»i-m  to  inquii'e  of  your  n's-a-ri.s 
if  he  oi  .^hv'  ctijo\rd  rcligioii.      (  ).,c.    the  diary    reeor-U: 


iiisToin-  or  wr.sTi'Oirr  :^(>r> 

'"llecoivevl  coiiniliinoiit>^  from  ^^l•s.  Wiglitman,  witli  an 
invitation  to  visit  lier  this  v.  ."\1.  Other  companv  ex- 
]'tx-te(l,  quite  a  little  party."  Ami  after  it  was  out, 
'Olary  Sawyer,  Mr.  ]Me]viiin-:}y,  Miles  ami  I  look  a 
short  walk,  the  evi-ninj.^  lioinr^  very  inviting  and  called 
:it  Mr.  Holeonilt's."  She  had  J;ine  ^rcKinnej-  and  Julia 
iriekok  and  Mary  Savi-yer  and  other  girls  to  stay  with 
h','r  over  iu[.;nt,  and  oT.ce  they  A\eM!,  on  horsel.ack  to 
'L'illiughasl  Coh^'s  to  t-at  v.-arm  sugar.  Tliere  was  also 
an  iiivitatitni  ttj  ;i  part}-  at  "Mr.  Newel's,"  and  after 
^Irs.  Yan  Yleek  had  come  to  tea,  as  .she  frequently  did, 
it  was  ahvays  endorsed  "had  an  excellent  visit."  Then 
as  for  the  religious  meeli))gs,  they  were  an  occupation 
in  themselves.  Wh;it  w(;uld  you  think  wow  of  listening 
to  two  long  sermons  every  Sunday,  with  a  Sabbath 
>^chool  session  betwee)i,  and  a  pra3-er  meeting  in  the 
evening,  and  tlieu  two  or  three  more  "conferences" 
tlirough  the  week  "? 

In  August  of  this  year  occurred  the  great  freshet 
which  was  ftdt  tlirough  all  the  Champlain  v.illey.  The 
Jiary  says  :  "It  has  caused  very  extensive  damages  in 
many  ditVerent  places,  not  so  niuch  in  this  a.s  in  many 
nther.s.  In  Nfw  Haven,  \\.,  fourteen  individuals  were 
swept  away  by  the  torrent  of  waters  rushing  upon  tiiem 
in  the  dead  of  night."  Though  no  lives  were  lost  in 
A\estport,  mills  and  bridges  went  out  along  the 
Jjhiclc  and  tilt'  Doquet,  and  Mill  brook  in  the  village 
carried  awa\-  all  the  mills  whieh  stood  above  the  pres- 
ent dam.     In  St  ptembcr  the  house  of  Dr.    Wright  on 


juiu  iiisroin-  OF  \\'/:sT/>of:T 

'  l'leas;int  street  w  as  1)uiik'J,  as  is  told  in  detail  in  tlio 
diary. 

Aeordiiiu;  to  AVatson,  ''Hraiiiard's  Forges,  contain- 
iii^  two  or  tlireo  firijs  each,  wore  erected  iu  18;'>0,  aud 
stood  on  Black  river,  a  few  loilcs  from  the  CiMirt 
House."*  We  know  th;it  Da.vid  Hiainard  built  ;i  fur<^e 
on  the  lilack  iu  ISli,  and  this  was  doubtless  rebuilt 
after  the  freshet. 

On  the  first  of  :\!areh,  1800,  the  Tirst  Ba].tist  Church 
of  A\'estitort  was  legally  iucorporated  as  a  relii^ious  so- 
ciety, with  t!ie  followiijr:;  trustees  :  Gideon  Hammond, 
Piatt  Ji.  Halstead.  Ira, Henderson,  (^eor<2je  B.  Reynolds, 
Dr.  Dan.  S.  Wright,  Horace  ILjlconib  and  John  Kings- 
ley. 

Town  Meetincr  held  at  Elijah  NewelTs. 

Barnaba.s  Mvriek.  Supervi.sor. 

Piodorn.-,  S.  Holeorni).  Clerk. 

Jesse  Br-ainan,  Di^j^iMrus  f iolcijra'n  and  Ahmson  Bari)ef, 
Assessors. 

Georire  B.  ReynoUls  and  John  Ivingsley,  Poor  Masters. 

Eh>zckiah  Barber.  Xewtun  Hays  and 'W'iliard  Cluirdi. 
Bii,'hway  Commissioners. 

Asabei  Lyon,  Ira  [lenderson,  Horaee  Holeomb.  SuboLi! 
Commis.sioners. 

Diodorus  S.  Holeomb.  Hlisha  (iartieid,  Aaron  B.  yhu-k, 
School  lu.spectDrs. 

Joseph  liardy.  Codeetor. 

Joseph  Hardy.  Samuel  Chandler  and  Joel  A.  Calhoun, 
Constaoles. 

Phiueas  A.   Durfy.  P.)an(l  .Master. 

The  entry  is  L-criihcil  to  by  tbr^M.  Justiees,  Jesse  Bra- 
nran.  .Me.\andei-  Si)(MU't>r  and  Tideon  ITmnmond.  Tu-o 
Justices  w.-re  elected.  Alexander  Spiaicer  and  John  II. 
I..<:ivv. 


iiisrom'  nr  wFSTPDirr  :u;7 

P;ithm;i3tors.  — Howard  Mitrhi-U.  E.  IT.  Coll,  Jaau-s  W. 
Coll.  Tillincrbost  Cole,  C;ileb  F.  Col.\  Austin  Hickok.  Bar- 
iiaoas  Myriok,  MyroQ  C.  Cole.  Luther  AuL^ier.  Iforatio 
LoveL  Gaov^^e  W.  Slurtovant.  Thomas  \Vos-;on,  .\]ns"s  F.'ll. 
.lo'.'l  Fitinoy,  Nathan  Cliast',  Epbraini  Bull.  }ilarvoy  Smith. 
Fvno.s  Lovciaud.  Piatt  Shelflon,  William  Stacy.  John  Stacy, 
S.ii.'num  Stockwoll.  Hollli,  Sherman.  William  McTntyi-e. 
Ale.vander  Mi'L'->uj:al,  Silas  Daniel.-,.  Ebenc'/er  Douglass. 
Kriistus  Loveland.  JonatbaQ  Cady. 

Town  rv]eetin^'  adjoarned  lo  Elijah  Xewell's. 

Tliis  year  New  Years  Day  fell  o\\  JSaturday.  On 
Sunday  the  diai-y  notes  "AtteiuloJ  lueetinfr.  Elder 
Sawyer'-s  to.\t  was  in  Jeremiah  28:15;  This  !n<rr  tin, a 
f<h'ilt  die,  A.  solenm  and  im|jressive  diseourse."  Such 
a  text,  dwelt  u[.iou  with  the  most  positive  convictioLi, 
and  delivered  to  a  congref:;atioa  which  had  not  yet 
learned  to  doubt,  iiti-^ht  well  produce  an  impression. 
The  power  of  the  ])rea.ehi!ii>;  of  those  days  lay  greatly 
in  a  ter\eut  faith  ii^  thi".  supernatural.  One  of  Ehler 
S;iwye]'"s  early  ex})eiienees  had  been  thi.-;.  ^^'hen  a 
rough,  uututoredTad,  living  in  wilderness  A\n-mont,  he 
learned  to  play  cards.  One  night  he  and  another  b(jy 
st(^le  away  by  themselves,  with  one  half-bui'ued  caudle 
for  light,  to  play  a  game  on  the  floor  of  a  barn.  Be- 
coming absorbed  in  the  game,  which  called  for  a  keen- 
ness of  observation  and  of  forethought  nc-ver  before  re- 
quired in  any  recreation  of  their  dull  lives,  they  played 
all  night  long,  nor  thought  to  stop  until  daylight  began 
to  break,  lieealled  to  rectxjnition  (jf  their  surround- 
ings, tiiey  saw  that  the  candle  was  still  burning  biight- 
ly,  and  was  as  long  as  it  had  been  whem  th.-y  liist  lighted 
U,  hours  bcfor.-.      EacJi   ft!t    sure    that   he  had    neither 


.    .."?''>■  lUSTOin    UF   ]Vi:sT/'(f/.'T 

suullt.-il  the  caudlu  iior  ()ut  a  now  oue  itito  tlie  camlli - 
stick  since  they  bef^aii  to  phiy.  'J'ht;  cunclusivju  A\a> 
ol)vi(^us.  Since  it  was  tf,>  tlie  a(] vantage  of  no  one  so 
inncli  as  to  the  l^vil  One  himself  that  they  should  de- 
vote themselves  to  siuh  luiholy  })ractices  as  card  ]ihiy- 
in^,  it  was  jilain  that,  he,  and  no  other,  had  suufted  the 
caudle  and  replenishf'd  it,  and  so  ])Volou(^ed  their  wick- 
edness to  suit  his  own  ends.  Xow  if  you  believed  that, 
as  Isaac  Sawyer  bolievpd  it,  you  \\oidd  look  u}>on  a 
playing  card  with  the  same  horror  that  he  felt,  that  is, 
you  would  act  Uf'Oij  your  conviction  as  he  did.  Tiie 
;,-.  iie.xl  o;enerati'.)u  of  Sawyers  never  played  cards.  In  the 
■■'.  generation  after  that  the  s])ell  had  weakened,  .so  that 
wht-n  my  mother  told  me  the  story  she  ex]>lained  tho 
abs(.>iption  of  the  boys  who  suufted  the  candle  and 
changed  it  unconsciou>ly,  and  afterward  were  made 
c<jv.ards  by  their  own  con-;eieiices,  but  nevertheless  she 
still  felt  the  inherited  horror  stroiiger  than  reason,  so 
that  the  sigiit  of  a,  playing  card  was  actually  nniileasani 
to  her.  Now  the  ])reaching  of  a  man  w  ho  has  such  be- 
lief as  that  in  the  neai-ness  of  the  supernatural,  deliv- 
ered perhaps  some  night  of  the  camp  meeting  which 
\v;is  again  held  this  year  on  the  Si^co  farm,  when  the 
light  of  the  torches  was  reflected  in  the  water,  and  made 
such  deep  shadows  behind  the  tree  trunks,  and  the 
voice  of  the  |>reacher  seemed  to  come  from  sotnc  uii- 
kiiown  Country,  may  well  have  ])roduced  an  effect  such 
as  the  great  revival  which  followed.  Not  that  he  was 
the  only  (^ne  \^•ll(>  >-;p.)ke  fiom  the  strength  of  such  con- 
viction-^,  and  >p.)kr  with  power,      bather  Cuin.-^tock  to(>k 


UJSTOUY  OF  WFSrrORT  3(J'.) 

:i  leadiijj^  part  in  those  camp  meeting.-,  and  the  Metho- 
dist prcaclieis  of  tliis  time  were  Ovville  Kyre])ton,  G. 
W.  Estoy,  Hiram  Cliase  and  P.  M.  Hitchcok. 

Dr.  Cutting  wrote  as  follows  in  regard  to  the  reli.f^- 
ious  hisieiry  of  the  year:  "I  well  remember  a  revival 
which  occurred  in  1S31.  I  was  a  student  at  the  tim-j, 
at  home  in  search  of  health.  On  my  urrival,  I  found 
preparations  in  progress  for  a  '3A>ur  Days  IMeei- 
iug.'  The  frame  of  the  house  of  worsliip  had  been  for 
some  time  raised,  but  the  work  had  proceeded  slowly. 
Fvoof  and  rough  boarding  were  now  hurried  on  ;  a  loose 
flooring  was  laid;  rude  benches  were  to  furnish  sittings 
for  the  congregation,  and  a  carpenter's  bench  a  plat- 
form for  the  preachers.  The  moral  preparations  seemed 
to  be  less  adequate.  A  meeting  largely  attended  was 
held  in  a  school-house  on  the  eveniiig  previous  to  the 
groat  gathering  in  the  unfinished  church.  The  Provi- 
dence of  God  had  brought  to  the  village,  and  that  even- 
ing, the  venerable  Father  Comstock,  a  Congregational 
minister,  long  known  and  honoured  in  Kortliern  New 
York.  On  these  aged  men  devolved  the  duty  of  the 
religious  instructions  of  that  evening.  Father  Com- 
stock preached,  making  the  union  of  Christians  in  love, 
and  prayers  and  labours,  the  burden  of  his  message,  and 
reaching  a  strain  of  Christian  eloquence  which  it  has 
never  berii  my  lot  to  witness  <in  any  other  occasion. 
Father  Sawyer  followed,  reiterating  and  ap[)lying  these 
instructions,  and,  before  the  evening  closed,  the  niem- 
l)ers  of  the  church,  to  that  hour  so  languid  and  so 
'wauling  in  faitli  as  well-nigh  to  quench    the    liuj)e    o{   ,i 


370  iiisToh'V  OF  WKsrroirr 

bk-ssIiiL',  wor.^  l)n)n;j;lit  iq^nn  thfir  kn-r-.s  in  C'life^sions 
:iiv]  pravtM-s  which  were  the  snrt;  pi-ociusors  ol  a  great 
iugithoriiiL;  of  souls.  This  ;.';i'oat  revival  was,  1  believe, 
the  last  uutler  the  tninistrj  of  Father  Sa\v\er  at  West- 
port,  and  ilhistraterl,  as  it  seems  to  me,  the  excellence 
aipl  heiuht  of  his  ])uwer  as  a  Christian  ]'aste)|-." 

This  year  the  first  class  m.jetiii;:;  of  tlie  Methodist 
Ejiiscop;,!  cluircli  was  *trrr;'.!ii?:e(1  at  V.'jidli.ims  Mills, 
comj>osed  as  foUovs  :  Captain  Ijevi  Frisbie,  le;id<>r, 
with  Nathan  Jones,  Thomas  Wfssons,  Mrs.  T.  Wessons, 
0\-reuus  Payne  and  a  Lack  family,  in  all  teu  persons,  as 
members.  From  this  time  on  there  Avas  regular  preaeli- 
ini^  at  the  Falls  by  tlie  cii'cnit  rider. 

Tlu!  year  was  sit^nalized  by  ,L"^reat  accessions  to  all 
tlie  chui-ches.  The  ]3a{)tist  church  records  show  sixty- 
one  additions  in  1830,  and  forty-eij:,dit  in  the  succeedin<:!; 
years,  and  there  was  a  ccvrrespouding  increase  in  the 
M.  Vj.  chnrcli.  As  nji^ht  be  expected,  ehaugts  were 
sometimes  made  from  one  church  tiM  the  orht>r,  as  when 
Diadovus  Hnlcnnb  and  his  wife  Sylva  left  the  Baptist 
uhureh  for  the  MethoLlist.  These  were  tryiu^i;  occa- 
sions, and  doctrinal  discussions  were  frequent  and 
searching,  forming  a  common  topic  of  conversation.  It 
was  at  ai)Out  this  time  that  the  wife  of  Elder  Lsaac  xSaw- 
yer  ^born  31ary  Willonghby,)  delivered  one  of  those 
l>ithy  sayings  so  fondly  cherished  by  ])0sterity  as  indi- 
cative of  character:  "We  hear  a  great  deal  ahont  Free- 
will Jjaptists,"  iiaitl  she,  "and  Hard-shell  F>a})tists,  but 
the  greatest  trouble  I  have  is  with  self-willed  Baptists!" 

An-ither  suidrctof  onversa.tion  was  the  Anti-Masoio'e 


inSTOliY  OF  WESTPORT  371 

'movement,  ^\  liich  bad  been  growing  ever  since  the  mys- 
terious disappearance  of  ^NForgan  in  1826,  and  was 
now  at  its  height  as  a  political  power.  Caroline  Hal- 
stead  wrote  in  her  diary  in  LSoO,  "Attended  the  Asso- 
ciation (of  the  Baptist  Clmrehes)  in  Octcjber.  The  pro- 
ceedings there  caused  nu^  uumy  very  }Kunful  feeling-^. 
Some  of  the  churches  were  more  engaged  about  Anti- 
Masonry  than  religion,  I  fear."  But  all  were  not  of 
her  mind,  for  the  W'estport  churches  passed  a  strong 
resolution  against  Free  Masonry  in  1831,  followed,  it 
would  seem,  by  divisions  and  unhappiuess,  as  might 
have  been  expected.  "Sister  (Mary  Hunter)  Cutting" 
confessed  in  1S33  to  having  been  much  "troubled  about 
Masonry,"  being  apparently  quite  out  of  sympathy  with 
the  action  of  the  church. 

This  year  the  hotel  at  Wadhan:)s  was  built  by  Isaac 
Alden,  a  descendant  of  John  Alden  of  the  Mayflower^ 
His  wife  was  the  first  wliito  child  boin  in  the  vicinity 
of  Montpelier,  Vt.  lie  >vas  the  father  of  Gen.  Alonzi.i 
Alden  of  the  Civil  War,  who  was  born  at  Wadhams  in 
1831,  attended  the  Academy  at  Keeseville,  and  in  lSl-3 
taught  school  in  West[>ort.  He  afterward  graduated 
from  William  Colleges,  and  practiced  law  in  Troy  until 
the  Civil  War,  in  which  he  rendered  distinguished  serv- 
ices, becoming  a  brigadier-general. 

Town  Meetiug  at  Elijah  Newell's. 
Barnabas  .M}  rick.  SuiHTvis'jr. 
Aaron  H.  Maek,  Clerk. 


:i7j  iiisToiry  <>F  wKsrmirr 

Jossp  nfamun,  Aliiiisoii  }?;'.vbL'r,  (Jidt^on  HamnioiHl,   As- 

St'SSOfS 

Joseph  Hardy,  Collector. 

(leoi-i^^e  W.  lievuolds  and  J(.>hii  Ciiandlrr.  Poor  Masters. 

James  \V.  CvW,  Willard  Cbureli,  Newlon  Hays,  Highway 
CommissioLiers. 

Irii  HeudersoD.  Horace  nolcomb,  A.sahol  L\itn.  School 
roir.missioiier;-. 

Joseph  H.  Delano.  [).  S.  Holcoinb,  Abiathar  Pollard, 
School  Inspectors. 

Joseph  liardy.  Therot)  Slaughter  and  Joel  A,  ('alboun. 
Constables. 

Newtou  Hays,  Pouud  Master,  aod  also  the  incumbent  of 
a  new  office,  that  of  Town  Sealer  ot  Weights  and  Measures.* 

Gideon  Hammond.  Justice. 

Pathmasters--Joseph  BiLfelow,  John  Stone,  Aluusou 
Harber.  Asa  Lovpland,  Caleb  P.  Cole,  Asahel  Lyon,  Bar- 
nabas Myrii'k,  .My  run  C.  Cole.  Nathaciel  Allen,  Henry 
Kjy(;e.  George  Fortune,  Isaac  Alden,  Tliomas  Hadley,  Au- 
gu^,t'js  Hill,  Samuel  A.  Wigbiman,  John  Lobdell.  Johnson 
Hill,  Timothy  Draper,  Andrew  Fiasbie,  Jonatluiu  Nichols, 
Iriies  Shirtlifr,  Forest  M.  Goodspeed,  Eli  I'^erris.  Epbraim 
C.)ulbuin.  Josepj  Faruham.  John  Sweat,  Nathaniel  Hiiilc- 
ley.  George  Vaughan,  Josinthau  Cady. 

V<)ied  to  the  supoort  of  the  poor.  ^9:175. 

It  was  this  dayenacied  llial  the  coUectorshould  '"collect 
for  thtee  pur  cent,  of  the  wh(jle  anKjunt."  Also  tnat  scnool 
conitui^.-iioners  and  school  inspi'Clors  should  shtvl- for  SI. UO 
a  (lay.  .-\.Uo  that  all  neat  catrle  should  run  as  fi-ee  com- 
ii.ouers.  und  that  a  lawful  t\/uce  "must  be  matle  of  sound 
inatei-ials  and  b'>  41  feet  hiirh. 

It  was  ill  1832  tiiat   the    Kents  came,   from   Bensou, 

Vt.,  ami  a  new  industry  was  staiteJ.     Dan  Kent  was  a 

hatter,  atnl  he  made  liats  in  a  building  at  the  east  end 

1)1  the  luidge  at  Northwest  Bay,  emph>ying  a  number  of 

•This  office,  which  was  regTilarly  filled  every  year  for  twenty- two  years,  was 
coQ.sideret!  very  important  at  the  time.  It  was  the  duty  of  the  Sealer  to  examine 
weights  and  measures  in  the  tc.vn,  and  certify  U»ose  which  accorded  to  the  U-£:al 
standard  by  affixing  a  seal.  This  was  a  protection  to  the  ignorant  or  unwary  from 
unscrxipulous  d»aiers,  and  also  a  v.-clcomi:  endorsement  for  all  hunest  tradesmen. 


J/IST(Ji:y  OF  V.'KSrroRT  :i7:i 

men.  Tliis  "liat  shoi>."  st.-unling  wlicro  llu^  i)ul)lic 
fountain  now  stands,  was  threfc-stovieJ,  and  built  in  a 
square,  massive  style,  with  many  windows.  It  \sas 
used  as  a  tenement  after  tlie  raanufacturc  of  liats  ceased 
to  be  profitable,  and  was  not  torn  down  until  about 
18S7.  'J'he  builder  was  I^avid  Clark,  (grandfather  of 
the  present  builder  of  the  same  name,")  and  the  first 
owner  sneni.s  to  h;ive  bten  John  H.  Low. 

Dan  H.  Kent  married  Samautha  Hammond,  daughter 
of  Gideon.  His  sister  Harriet  married  Ralph  Love- 
land,  sou  of  Erastas  and  grandson  of  Enos.  Katharine 
Kent  was  a  peculiarly  beloved  school  teacher  among 
the  village  children,  and  married  the  Eev.  Mr.  Wliit- 
ney.*  Angusta  Kent  was  also  a  school  teacher,  in 
Westpoit  and  in  the  south,  and  married  Mr.  Victor 
Spencer,  who  was  book-keeper  for  Silas  Witherbee  at 
Jacksoiiville,  and  also  well-known  as  a  teacher.  He 
was  for  a  while  in  business  with  Dr.  Piiehardson  of 
Wiiallonsbmgh,  :ind  afterv.-ard  went  to  IMichigan,  where 
he  was  connected  with  Mr.  Lovehuid  in  the  lumber 
business.  Mrs.  Spencer  has  been  of  the  greatest  assist- 
ance in  preparing  this  part  of  this  history,  especially  in 
a  vivid  account  of  the  village  as  she  first  saw  it,  cova- 
iug  into  it  on  the  road  fiom  Barl)er's  Pointy  a  lit- 
tle girl  nine  years  old.     So  many  changes   have   come 


•One  o£  the  most  irrepressible  of  the  boys  who  went  to  school  to  Miss  Kent  was 
Conant  Sawyer,  and  he  afterward  gave  evidence  of  the  love  and  respect  which  she 
inspired  in  hirn  by  na:ning  his  dajgh'.er  after  her.  The  Kents  were  cousins  of 
Mrs.  Katy  Childs  Wail<er,  a  wellkaown  contributor  to  the  Atlantic  Monthly  of  a 
g-encration  ago.  One  of  her  wittiest  and  moit  often  quoted  articles  was  "The 
Total  Depravity  os  Inanimate  Things."     She  often  visited  in  Westport. 


:r74 


n  I  STORY  OF   WESTPoirr 


ubout  in  the  sevcuty  years  since  tlu'ii  that  it  \^  or.kl  take 
paj^es  to  explain  to  a  stranger  her  account  of  tlie  houses 
which  stood  between  the  Point  and  the  bridge  in  the 
village,  but  it  has  been  invalual.ile  to  the  writer  as 
the  one  point  of  solid  gromul  upon  whicli  to  stand  in 
looking  forward  and  back  iij  an  estimate  of  the  histori- 
cal growth  of  the  village.  She  saw  a  little  countiy 
]ilace,  of  hardly  more  than  one  street  running  along 
above  the  shore,  quiet  aad  yet  busy,  slow  but  not  yet 
shabby,  with  good  houses  and  well-dressed  jieople,  and 
u  social  life  in  which  it  w  as  possible  to  find  cultivated 
minds  and  manners,  with  leisure  for  conversation. 

Many  a  glimpse  of  these  conditions  is  given  in  Mrs. 
Spencer's  letters,  like  this  incid(;nt  of  her  first  summer 
in  Westport. 

"Eliza  Durphy  lived  at  our  house  then,  and  took  me 
with  her  to  Caroline  Sawy>n-'s.— the  old  TLdstead  house 
on  the  corner.- She  was  after  a  copy  of  the  missionary 
hymn  wi'itten,  1  think,  by  the  author  of  'Anierica,' 
Smith.     It  began  : 

"Yes.  my  native  land.  J  love  tlioe  well; 

Can  I,  can  1  leuve  thee,  lui'in  heathen  lands  to  dwell?" 

"I  remember  so  well  your  grandmother's  soft  voice 
nud  pleasant  ways,  and  the  big  bunch  of  flowers  she 
gave  me,  v,ith  some  jiink  lavender  which  she  called  'cn- 
pids.'  Your  mother  was  Lun-n  soon  aft^;r.  I  was  ou\y 
nine  years  older  than  she  was."  A  missionary  hymn- 
and  a  gift  of  flowers,  remembered  for  seventy  years, 
show  that  there  was  gr'Utleness  and  refinement  :it  h(-ime 
in  this  reui-t..-  place.       XwA   tlje   chdd    who   "was   bora 


HISTORY  OF  M'HSrroRr  o'7.'. 

soon  after"  loveJ  llo%vei'.s  anJ  poetry  witli  a  [)as.sionate 
love  all  her  life. 

Mrs,  Spoucer  goes  on  to  say  tliat  Aaron  B.  Mack  l)uilt 
the  brick  house  just  north  of  Judge  Hatch's,  afterward 
occupied  by  Charles  B.  Hatch,  that  summer,  and  in  the 
fall  the  house  still  further  north,  commonly  called  "the 
Aikens  hou^e,"  from  the  fact  tliat  Judge  Aikens  after- 
ward owned  it,  was  built  for  John  H.  Ijow. 

This  was  Dr.  Abiathar  Pollard's  first  year  in  West- 
port,  lie  being  elected  school  inspector  immediately 
after  his  arrival.  He  was  born  in  Bridgewater,  Yt.,  in 
1808,  and  had  just  graduated  from  Castleton  Miidical 
College.  His  parents  were  Abiathar  Pollard,  from 
Massa.chusotts,  and  Comfort  Sisco  Pollard.  The  Sis- 
cos  had  been  at  Sisco  ba}'  at  least  since  1821.  After 
about  four  years'  practice  in  Westport,  Dr.  Pollard  at- 
tended lectures  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
in  1S3">  married  Hannali  Douglass,  daughter  of  Ebe- 
nezer.  He  was  six  years  in  Cha/y,  Clinton  county, 
eight  years  in  Eeeseville,  two  iu  New  York  and  eight  in 
California,  and  iu  18G1  returned  to  \Vestj)ort  and  there 
remained  until  his  death. 


1833. 

Town  Meeting  held  at  the  lua  of  Newton  Hays. 
A  sail  el  Lvon,  Supervisor. 
AaroG  B.  Mack,  Clerk. 
Jesse  liraman,  Justice. 
Newton  tliiys.  Collector. 

AK^.\arider  Spencer,  Diodorus  Ilolcomb.   Joseph    Hardv. 
Ass.'-,-,.  M-s, 


370  IIISTOIZY  OF  WKSTPORT 

■  Hezokiah  Barber,  James  W.  Coll,  John  Greely,  Jr., 
Hijfhway  CorntnissioDcrs. 

Abiatbar  Pollard.  Florace  Holcorab,  Ira  lienderson, 
School  Cuinuiissiooers. 

D.  S.  flolcomb,  Asabel  Lyon,  Myron  C.  Cole.  School  In- 
spectors. 

Geori^e  B.  Reynolds  and  Abel  Baldwin,  Poor  Masters. 

Newton  JTays,  Joel  A.  Calhoun,  Therou  S]aLi(.'hter,  Con- 
stables. 

Newton  Hays,  Pound  Master,  and  Sealer  of  Weights  and 
Measures. 

Pdthrnaster— Horace  C)imsby.  Isaac  Stone,  Ebencr.er 
Spencer,  Andrew  Frisbic,  Williaui  Frisbie.  Norris  Mc- 
Kiuny.  Cyrus  Picbards,  Myrou  C.  Cole,  Calvin  Angi^r, 
Danea  Dodt»-e,  Willard  Church,  Lemuel  Whitney,  xVbel 
Baldwin,  Joel  Finney.  Jeduthan  Cobb,  Willard  Hartwell, 
Amos  Smith.  Oliver' B.  Babcock.  Piatt  Sheldon.  William 
Stacy.  William  Pericius,  Archy  Duuton.  Orrin  Siciuner. 
Moses  Felt.  Edward  Harper,  Geor;y:e  Skinner,  Nathaniel 
Hinkley,  Geor<^e  Vaughan,  Jonathan  Cady,  Elisha  Royce. 

It  was  voted  that  the  balance  of  the  money  in  the  hands 
of  the  Po'ir  Masters  belon^ins,' to  the  town  should  bo  ap- 
plied to  the  purchase  of  Wei^^'hts  and  Measures. 

"The  luQ  of  Newton  Hays"  stood  on  the  corner  of 
Main  and  WasliiDj^ton  streets,  on  the  present  Library 
lawn.  Tradition  saith  that  tliis  inn  was  first  built  by 
Aaron  Felt.  Next  year  avb  find  it  occupied  by  Harry 
J.  Person.  I  liave  been  told  that  Newton  Hays  built 
the  brick  house  standing  above  the  Library,  so  long 
known  as  "the  Walker  Eddy  house,"  at  about  this  time. 
In  the  road  surveys  we  find  a  new  road  laid  out  "from 
Douglass  wharf  to  David  S.  McLeod's."  The  McLeod 
house  on  the  corner  was  burned  in  190L 

1834. 

Tbis  year  t!ie  Town  Meetin<4'  was  held  "at  the  Inn  of  H. 
J.  Person."     This  shows  tnat  it  wJis  at  this  ti;ne  that   H. 


JIfSTOh'Y  OF  WKSTl'Oirr  -ITT 

,T.  Person  boutrht  the  hotel  mi  the  corner,  which  was  so 
we!l  known  a  laDciniark  until  it  was  burned  in  the  fire  of 
JS7G.     Mr.  Person  kept  it  until  his  death. 

Ebenezcr  Douijlass,  Supervisor. 

Benjamin  P.  Dout^lass.  Clerk. 

Diodoi-us  Holeorab,  Justice. 

Alanson  Barber,  John  Chandler  and  Joseph  Hardy,  As- 
sessors. 

Hezekiah  Barber,  John  Greely,  Jr.,  Abel  Baldwin,  Road 
Commissioners. 

STfU-ton  Ilays.  Collector. 

Ira  Henderson,  D.  S.  irolcoa::b,  William  L.  Wadharris. 
School  Commissioners. 

Miles  M"F.  Sawyer,  .Abiathar  Pollard.  Jus^^ph  Pv.  Delano, 
School  Inspectors. 

John  Lobdeli,  Levi  Frisbie,  Poor  Masters. 

Newton  Hays.  Therou  Sla'Jtrhter,  Marcus  J.  Hoisington, 
^Tfanville  Stone,  Joel  A.  Calhoun.  Constables. 

Enos  S.  Warner,  Sealer  of  Weitrhts  and  Measures. 

Xorris  McKinney  and  Thomas  Weston,   Pound  Keepers. 

Two  poutids  are  established  this  year,  for  the  first  time, 
sbowinij  the  increasing'  needs  of  a  cri-owintjf  settlement. 
Norris  iMcKinuey  lived  at  North  West  Bay,  and  Thomas 
Weston  near  Wadhams  Mills. 

Pathmasters— Thomas Locli.  0^is  Sheldon.  Union  Coll, 
Noel  Merrill,  Da-vid  Rogers.  Newton  Hay^.  John  Greely. 
Jr..  Willard  Frisl.ne.  Eiea;^a.r  H.  Ranucy,  Henry  R^yce. 
(ieorge  W.  Sturtevaut.  Jason  Braman,  Joseph  Hardy. 
Charles  Denton,  John  Stanton.  John  Lobdeli,  Ephraini 
Bull,  Lyman  Smith.  John  F.  Alexander,  William  Perkins. 
<;iles  Shirtlcff,  Stephen  Barber.  Lee  Prouty.  Moses  Felt. 
Robert  McDougal.  Leonard  Taylor.  Ebenezer  Douglass. 
George  Vaughan.  Jonathan  Cady,  Thomas  Fortune. 

Voted  to  appropriate  65.81  to  purchase  the  Desk  ex- 
amined by  the  Auditors  for  the  deposit  of  town  Books  and 
Papers.     The  Auditors  were  the  Town  Board. 

This  year  a  road  was  discontinued,  "'beginning  at  the 
intersection  of  the  road  h-ading  from  O.  H.  Barrett's  with 
llie  road  leading  from  Wadhams  Mills  to  John  Daniels' 
forge,  to  the  north  line  of  Jesse  Braman's  Lot."" 

The  surveyor  was  Joel  K.  French. 

It  w;is  about    this    time,   perhaps   somewhat   earlier, 


:{7s  iiisrou'Y  or  wKsTi'oirr 

tluit  Asahel  lioot  c;uiie  from  Eliznla'tlitDUU  uikI  settlt.-.l 
()!j  the  lake  road,  on  the  farm  so  lou-^  occupied  by  liis 
son,  Col.  Samuel  Eoot,  until  the  ])ro})erty  v.-as  sold  to 
the  Westport  Farias  in  ]vS'.)7.  Col  Hoot  was  a  boy  of 
sixteen  when  the  family  movt,'d  into  town.  He  after- 
ward married  Cynthia  Fisliei',  and  one  of  their  dau;j;h- 
ters  is  Mrs.  Chaflos  H.  PattisOQ  of  Moriah.  He  re- 
ceived ills  title  through  being  elected  Colonel  of  the 
militia  at  the  tiu)e  of  the  Civil  War,  and  though  he 
uever  went  to  the  front,  he  did  gallant  service  in  rais- 
ing the  w;ir  qu^)ta  of  the  town.  (His  father  had  l)eeu 
a  sergeant  in  the  militia  during  the  war  of  1812.)  He 
might  be  called  our  "uar  supervisor,"  since  he  held 
that  oillce  from  ISli'J  to  1863.  He  represented  the 
county  in  the  Assembly  1868  and   186i>. 

In  18H-1,  David  Clark  came  to  this  village  with  his 
family,  from  Cornwall,  Vt.  He  was  a  house  builder, 
and  a  good  proportion  of  the  houses  now  standing  ii> 
Westport  were  built  by  hinj,and  by  his  sou,  and  b}-  his 
grandson,  the  latter  being  still  the  principal  contractor 
for  new  buildings.  Mr.  Aaron  Clark  was  for  many  years 
a  |)romiuent  man  in  the  afVairs  of  the  M.  K  church. 
He  married  Harriet  Clark,  a  grand-daughter  of  Capt. 
Levi  Frisbie,  and  their  children  were  :  David  married 
Minnie  Pattison.  Aaron  B.  took  orders  in  the  Episco- 
pjd  Chuich,  an<l  is  now  living  in  Dal<(>ta.  Mary  mar- 
lied  F-dmund  J.  Fh>yd.  Theresa  married  Nelson  J. 
txibbs.  Anna  married  Mr.  Miildlebrtjok,  and  is  now 
living  in  Yergennes. 

ImujijJ":'.'.!' >M.  w;i.s  n.ow  bii-dv  {\:\u\  al!  directions.   Fr^n.^ 


HISTORY  OF  WKSTPrnn'  :u:i 

the  nortli  Q<\\v\e  in  tlie  Stevfnsous,  and  sfttlcMl  in  tlje 
oxtrerne  soutli  of  P)essljoro,  on  the  lake  shoif.  This 
family  came  from  Kelso,  Scothind,  on  tlie  river  Tweed. 
William  Stevenson  was  a  carjienter,  and  he,  with 
his  wife,  three  sons  and  one  daughter,  came  to 
.America  about  1830,  landing  at  Quebec  and  com- 
ing; from  there  to  Whallonsljurgh,  and  a  ilttle 
latt  r  to  Westjiv-rt  whe}-e  he  boup;ht  a  faiiu  near  tlie 
'"stone  bridge,"  at  the  mouta  of  Beaver  Brook.  The 
canny  Scf)tchmaD  watched  his  neighbors  at  their  farm- 
jjjg,  and  observed  that  they  were  using  an  old-fashioned 
kind  of  plow,  not  ada])ted  to  tlie  soil  whicli  they  were 
working.  IIh  had  made  for  himself  a  plow  after  the  pat- 
tern of  those  which  he  had  seen  in  the  old  country,  and 
.'^o  introduced  the  first  "long-mold-board,  long  handled 
plow"  ever  seen  m  Westport.  The  Stevensons  were  all 
skilled  mechanics,  the  three  sous  working  for  the  Bay 
State  Iron  Company  at  Port  Henry  for  many  years, 
besides  carrying  on  tiieir  farms  in  Westport.* 

This  was  one  of  the  earliest  springs   on   record,  the 
ice  being  out  of  the  lake  at  Flattshurgh  March  15.   But 


♦William  Stevenson  was  thrice  married.  His  son  Thomas  wag  the  child  of  the 
first  vrife,  John  of  the  second  wife,  and  Alexander  and  Margaret  of  the  tliird  wife. 
Thocaas  married  Isabella  dughter  of  Robert  Williamson  of  Galtonside, 
Roxboroshire,  and  tl-.ey  had  six  children,  the  oldest  of  whom  was  Ljeut 
William  Henry  S'evenson  of  Co.  F,  liSth  N.  Y.  V.  John  Stevenson  married 
Sarah  Van  Antwerp,  »nd  they  had  six  children,  of  whom  Jacob  V.  was  in  the 
77th  N.  Y.  v.,  and  William  was  also  in  the  service  of  the  United  States 
duripg^  the  Civil  War.  Alexander  married  his  cousin,  Marjj-aret,  daughter 
of  Robert  Richardson,  »nd  they  had  nine  children,  the  oldest  of  whora 
is  Robert  Richardson  Stevenson,  at  one  time  editor  of  the  Ticonderoga 
Sc'ntiocl,  and  School  Comm.'ssioner.     (Charles  W.  Stevenson   of  We>tport  is   his 


■iso     .  IllSrom'  OF   WKSTl'iiRT 

it  V.MS  a1>:o  ii  yt'ar  whi.'U  the  .s])iin<^-  went  backwanl,  as 
the  14tli  ami  Lllli  of  IMay  saw  a  great  snow  stoim,  })il- 
iug  the  snow  in  Jrifts.  Jiarnabas  Myrick  went  to  the 
Assembly  at  Albany  this  year,  and  another  event,  quite 
as  mnc-h  a  njattev  nf  coniruent,  was  the  death  of  Joseph 
Call — ''.loe  Call,  the  Ivowis  j^iaut," — uho  hail  moved  to 
\\'estport  suuie  years  before  this  time.  Essex  countv 
mytlu.lo^y  is  enriehed  by  ujauy  a  yarn  about  the 
streugtli  of  this  man.  He  had  been  a  soldier  in  the 
IJritish  army,  had  won  a  watch  in  a  wrestling  match  in 
Scotlanil,  had  eocne  to  An^.erica  ami  f.>ught  on  our  side 
in  the  war  of  1812,  had  crushed  V)etween  his  hands  a. 
British  grenadier  in  Plattsburgh  who  would  not  wresth^ 
fairly,  and  was  altogether  l)eloved  as  a  typical  embodi- 
ment of  the  strength  oi  the  young  republic  pitted 
against  the  unfair  bullying  of  Eughvud.  One  delightful 
story,  alt(igether  "too  g(K>d  to  be  true,"  is  of  his  fame 
reaching  to  I',ugland,  or  perhaps  being  never  forgotten, 
there,  and  of  a  champion  wrestler  crossing  the  seas 
and  seekitig  him  out  on  his  Lewis  farm,  where  he  was 
discovered  plowing.  N(.w  Joe  Call  did  not  show  his 
immense  strength  at  the  tirst  glance^  being  no  more 
tiian  si.\  feet  high,  and  "heavier'n  he  looked," 
(perhaps  wlien  local  genius  elaborates  this  point 
there  is  a    subtle    intention    to    inn>ly    that    one    must 


Marjcaret,  daughted  of  William.  Stevenson,  married  John  Ortniston,  who  came 
from  Berwick-oti-Tweed,  and  they  had  seven  children.  As  William  Stevenson> 
the  fcainder  of  the  family  in  America,  had  twenty-eight  grand  children,  nearly  all 
of  them  born  in  Westport,  oo  one  will  expect  me  to  eo  much  as  make  a 
bcfinnin^  at  naminff  his  descendants.  The  records  of  this  family  have  been  kept 
with  an  admiraMe  fidelity  and  exactnf^s,  showitiif  that  the  siiiri".  of  the  old  SvO*- 
tish  clan  still  survives  atuonjj  thtMr  Airciic  nn  StcvcniOus>, 


JUS  TO  in'  OF  WKSTPORT  :^SJ 

ho  mneli  more  than  six  feet  liigh  aud  proportiouately 
Ptroug  to  exoite  notice  anioug  our  stalwart  raouvitHin- 
t'ors,)  ami  when  ttie  stranger  iuqnired  the  way  to  Jog 
Call's  house,  the  plowman  lifted  his  plow  in  one  liand 
and  silently  pointed  to  the  nearest  farmhouse!  Of 
course  the  story  concludes  v.-itli  the  statement  that  the 
stranger  had  no  courage  to  try  a  fall  with  the  famous 
vrestler  :ifler  tliaf. 

On  May  1st,  ]8ol,  the  Essex  Couuty  Academy  waH 
established' in  Westport  under  an  act  of  the  Legislature 
authorizing  Asahel  Lyon,  Pl«.tt  Bogers  Halstead  aud 
Beuajah  P.  Douglass  to  incorporate  the  same.  This 
Academy  v.  hs  i\.iv  twenty  years  or  more  oueof  the  most 
important  schools  along  the  lake  receiving  students 
from  New  York  aud  Montreal,  as  well  as  from  Vermont 
.and  from  all  the  towns  of  the  county.  Its  sessions  were 
held  in  a  large  building  on  the  south  side  of  Washing- 
Ion  street,  /on  the  site  now  owned  by  Frank  L.  Smith,) 
which  was  built  for  a  dwelling  house  by  Austin  Hickok^ 
a  ffw  years  before  tliis  time.  The  large  white  house 
just  above  it,  now  occupied  by  Mrs.  E.  B.  Low,  was 
built  as  n  boarding  house  for  the  Academy,  and  so  used 
as  long  Jis  the  Academy  tiourished.  The  old  Academy 
building  burned  about  1S74.  The  first  trustees  of  the 
Aeadem\-  were  Aaron  15.  Mack,  Judge  Charles  Hatch, 
Charles  Jl  Hatch,  (leorge  V>.  iieynrdds,  Ira  Henderson, 
"N'orris  McKinney,  iJarnabas  Myrick,  CalcV*  P.  Cole  anil 
Joseph  Cole.     The  capital  was  S'2o()0,  in  shares  of  ^2-") 

•Austin  Hickok  was  a  brother  of  Dr.  llcnry  ilickok,  so  long'  pastor  of  the  Pre»- 
byterian  Church  of  Orunge,  N..I.,  .jQii  Mrs.  C.  H.  Eddy  (born  Marit-tta  Hickck) 
u-ds  his  siscer. 


Js-J  HlsroUY  OF   WKSTI'ORT 

each.  March  6,  LS^JS,  the  Acailemy  received  a  ebai  ter 
from  th^'  Piegeiits. 

This  yoar  a  jvursouage  was  pnrehaseii  for  the  M.  J', 
cliurcli,  but  1  have  failed  to  find  wliere  it  stood.  The 
coiiimittce  appoiuted  to  mauage  the  business  was  John 
Gibbs,  Joseph  BurHu-ame,  II.  S.  Odeli,  D.  Holcouib 
and  William  Frisbie.  At  this  time  Westport  and 
Mfjriah  bclongetl  to  the  Middleburv  ])istrict,  and 
the  preachers  were  Ezra  Sayres  and  Andrew  C.  Mills. 
The  sutumer  camp  meeting  was  held,  not  on  the  hike 
shore,  but  in  a  grove  near  the  brook  on  Piatt  lialstead's 
farm — since  Albert  Carpenter's. 

This  year  Capt.  Ira  Henderson^  the  boat -builder, 
erected  a  large  house  on  North  street  with  fireplacen 
and  brick  oven.  In  1848  it  was  converted  into  a  hotel 
by  his  sou-iudaw,  William  Ilicliards,  an^d  so  used  until 
it  was  burned  in  1893. 

1830.  • 

TowD  Meeting  at  the  Inn  of  l\.  J.  Person. 

El)eiiezer  Douifiuss.  Su})cr\isor. 

Keuajah  P.  Douglass,  ClerK. 

Ira  lieudei'sou.  Justice. 

Hoi-;ice  Holcotab.  Aoel  Caldwin,  Isaae&tone,  Assessors. 

Mile.>  M'P.  Sawyer.  AUuison  Baroer.  Moses  Felt,  Kuad 
Cuuunissiouers. 

Marcus  J.  Hoisiugton,  Collector. 

D.  S.  Holcomb.  Abitbar  Poiiard.  William  Frisbie,  Scho<.ii 
Ci)miuissiouers. 

EaosS.  Wuruer,  Asahel  Lyon.  Albert  P.  Cole,  School 
Inspectors. 

Newtiui  Hays.  Marcus  J.  Hoisington,  Alanson  Denton, 
Constables. 

Levi  Frisi'ie  and  John  LnbdelL  Poor  Masters. 

Laruabu>  .\l\riiK.  S..';iler  of  W'^ii'tiLs  and  Meas>ures. 


TU^TORY  OF  V,'ESTrf)RT  .W.7 

Patlimasters. — Thomas  Lock,  Ephraiin  Colburo,  Uuion 
Coll.  Levi  Frisbie,  Amos  Culvei",  Newton  Ilays.  Wiram 
Ayrcs,  Wilkifd  Frisbie,  Calviu  Angipr.  Charles  5l.  Church, 
Abram  E.  Wadhams.  Jason  Duii.-^ter,  Au^^Jstiis  Hill,  Oliver 
>[.  Larrett,  Wiliard  Hartwell,  Johnson  Hill.  David  Smith, 
John  F.  Alexander,  Jonalhau  Nichols,  Bejamia  West- 
gate,  So!onr»on  Stock  well,  John  Charaberlin,  Darius  Mer- 
riara,  Joseph  Faroam,  George  Skinner,  Ebouc^er  Doug- 
lass, George  Vaughan,  Jonathan  Cady.  Emory  Mather. 

Voted  that  the  balance  of  nioney  in  the  hards  of  thel'cor 
Masters  be  ajiplied  for  the  support  of  the  common  schools, 
and  that  the  books  kept  b^'  the  Poor  Ma.'^ters  be  deposited 
in  the  Town  Clerk's  oQice. 

That  the  School  Commissioners  revise  and  regulate  the 
boundaries  of  the  school  districts. 

Adjourned  to  Spencer's  Hotel. 

This  year  a  special  Town  Meeting  was  called  in  June  to 
olect  an  Assessor  iu  the  place  of  Isaac  Stone,  who  did  not 
serve.     DiadMru^^  Holcomb  was  elected  tothe  vacant  place. 

in  the  road  surveys  we  find  an  alteriitibn  of  the  road 
'"leading  from  Whallon's  Mills  to  North  West  13ay,  begin- 
ning opposite  Henry  Royce's  dwelling  house."  The  sur- 
veyors w^^re  Abram  Stone  and  Joel  K.  French.  A  new 
i-oad  was  opened  "'froni  Mosps  Felt's  to  Darius  Merriam's. 
and  to  Fflt  and  Mprriam's  [Mill  Yard."  Piatt FJogers  Hal- 
stead  surveyed  aioad  "'from  l.uthcr  Angler's  to  V,'ualluu"s 
Mill." 

Now  begius  another  era,  witli  tlie  prosperous  exist- 
ence of  the  Acaderay.  From  the  first,  Westport  has 
never  been  uumintlful  of  her  schools.  Even  tlie  primi- 
tive district  scliools  seem  never  to  have  beeu  tau^^ht  by 
ihe  most  worthless  members  of  the  community,  as  some 
stories  of  eavlj  baekwoods  schools  in  other  places  would 
invlicate,  and  Dr.  Cuttinj;^  has  left  his  testimony  that  in 
18'2I»  he  found  what  he  calls  "a  good  school"  at  Nortli- 
west  Bay.  Wi?  wish  he  had  recorded  the  teacher's 
Kame,  as  very  few  of  the  early  teachers  are  remenibered 
Jo-da\,      Tin;  nan)es  of  .Miss  (?.i(lv  ;)ik1  Miss    J^ites    yre 


\ 


3S4  iiisTonv  OF  ]vi:sTi'(j[rr 

'  luentioiieJ,  ciud  we  know  tliat  TiUcetta  J;r)\  oland,  (aftti- 
ward  1^1  IS.  Kgerton,)  anl  Huldah  Holcomb,  (afterward 
Mrs.  liartli.'tt,)  taught  several  terms.  Later,  the  teacli- 
ers  of  the  township  were  almost  universally  from  tlic 
Acadeniv— -M)-.  Wheaton  Cole  writes:  "Afterward  1 
attended    tlie    Westport    xVcadeuiy,    where    I    fiuislieii 

my  school  work,  atni  began  teaching  in  Pantou,  ^'t., 
at  the  j)ri!u;ely  salary  of  eleven  dollars  per  month, 
aud  boarded  around.  'Four  months  gave  me  forty- 
four,  dollars.  I  was  rich.  It  was  the  most  mon- 
ey I  had  ever  had  at  one  time  in  my  life.  I 
always  loved  the  school  rooui,  aud  taught  twelve  terms, 
ten  of  theui  iu  Westport  seljools.  I  was  the  town  su- 
perintendent for  Westport,  aud  in  after  years  was  the 
county  superintendent  of  Fayette  county,  Iowa,  for 
seven  years.  My  last  school  was  taught  at  Wadhams 
Mills;  the  teacher  left,  and  I  finished  the  school  term."' 
FTappily,  a  catalog  of  the  first  working  year  of  the 
Acadeiny  has  remained,  not  yet  "overtaken  by  eteiu- 
ity,"  like  so  au'.uy  docuijsonts  that  we  would  like  to 
see.  It  is  here  printed  entire.  After  the  names  of  res- 
ident pupils  tlie  address  "Westport"  is  omitted. 

Catalogue  of  the  Officers  and  Students  of  the 
Essex  County  academy,  Westport, 

FOR  THE  year  1836. 

Ti"ustees:  Cbarlos  Hatch,  Gtorgc  J3.  Rcyaolds,  Aaruti 
B.  JNluL-k.  iJarc.abas  My  rick.  Ira  fiendersou.  Charles  IJ. 
HatcL.  Xorris  McKiunev.  Caleb  Cole,  Abiatbar  Pollard 
M.   U. 

lii-5tr.Kturs  :  Orsuu  Iv-'Hol';:.  A.  M..  Priucipal. 


s 


in  STORY  OF  WESTPOirr  3Srj 

Abial  P.  Mead.  M.  D..  (of  Essex.)  Lecturer. 

Mr.  Jesse  P.  Bishop,  Male  Teacher. 

Miss  Eaiily  P.  Gross,  (of  Keeseville,) Teacher. 

Miss  Mary  Severance.  Music  Teacher. 

]Miss  C.  S.  L.  3>IcLeod,    Teacher   of   I'rimary 

School. 
Evander  W.  Ranuey,  M.  D.,  appointed  T^cct- 

urer  for  the  eusuin;;  N'ear. 


]Male  l>ci:)artnieiir.. 

Lewis  Bnrtlett,  Jay.  Jesse  'P.  Bishop,  Pauton,  Vt. 
Jobn  F.  Donner,  Montreal,  L.  C.  Judson  Bostwick.  Ed- 
win N.-  B'Dstwiek,  ^Montreal.  Janaes  P.  Butler,  Moriab. 
Thomas  W.  Call.  Francis  Chase,  Keeue.  Adams  Clark, 
David  Clark,  Aaron  Clark,  Dexter  B.  Colburne,  Moses 
Coll.  Harry  X.  Cole,  Dan  Cuttino-.  Thomas  Donaldson, 
New  York  City.  Ebenezer  Douglass,  Ticonderoga.  Francis 
A.  Douf^'lass,  Ticonderoga.  Edward  Douglass,  Cornwall, 
Vt.  James  W.  Eddy,  Samuel  H.  Farnsworth.  Daniel 
French,  Lewis.  James  Farnsworth.  Albert  A.  Farns- 
worth. Lewis.  Henry  Farnsworth,  Fort  Ann.  3Jartin 
Farrand,  Jeremiah  Flinu.  AbielGouId.  Piundolph,  Vt.  John 
S.  Gould.  Essex.  Luther  B.  ILimmond,  Rensselaer  B.  Flam- 
moud.  Houry  Hap^food,  Edwin  Hatch,  Percival  Flatch, 
George  V\'.  Henderson.  Willian  Fligby,  ^Yillsborougb. 
Wiliiam'Holconib,  Benjamin  Frank  Holcomb,  William  Hod- 
ges. John  Howard,  .^ioriah.  Lucius  Howard.  Daniel 
Howard,  New  Haven,  Vt.  Cyrus  Kellogg.  Elizabethtov.n. 
Richard  Henry  Lee,  Lewis.  Benjamiu  F.  T>ee.  Lewis. 
Diadorus  H.  Loveland,  l^lph  A.  Loveland,  Solon  Lovell, 
Li;cius  Lvon.  Henry  Marks,  Elizabethtowu.  Foster  Mc- 
Kinney.  John  L.  Meri-iam,  Essex.  Ira  Myrick.  Nathan 
Myric'k.  Rowland  J.  Nicbols.  Lewis.  William  H.  Peck. 
Keeseville.  Michael  Phyfe,  New  York  Citv.  William 
Phyfe,  New  York  City.  Orrin  Reed.  Jay.  Alva  C.  Rog- 
ers, Anson  Rogers,  David  Rogers,  Samuel  Root.  Stephen 
Rowo,  Chesterfield.  John  N.  Rust,  New  York  City. 
Cvrus  Richards,  Charles  Richards.  John  Savre.  Samuel 
M'.  Scott.  Keene.  William  G.  T.  Shedd.  Willsborough. 
Henry  Shedd.  Willsborough.  Marshall  Sbedd.  Wills- 
biirouirh.  Edward  Shumwuy.  Essex.  Dennis  B.  Stacey. 
Charles     Sr.iCev.     Thomas  *D.    SfatVoru,    E-..^cx.        Miroa, 


\ 


3Sf>  jiisTORV  OF  WKsrrnirr 

Stearnes,  FJizabethtown.  Alpheus  Stono,  Stillinau  Stone. 
Jonatban  Ti'.rbcH,  Moriah.  David  T.  Taylor,  Xt,-w  York- 
City.  Obod  Taylor,  Esstx.  John  C.  Thoaipson.  Burliui.'- 
tOD,  Vt.  Higby  Tbroop,  Willsborouo^h.  Dauiel  Wballon. 
Essex.  Reuben  Whallou,  Es.sex.  Samuel  M.  Williams. 
Russell  I.  Williams,  Sudbury,  Vt.  Barnum  Wiuaus. 
Ferrisburixli,  Vt.  Sarell  Wood,  Jay.  Alva  Woods, 
Crown  I'nint. 


Female  r)epai'lineiit. 

Eliza  Augier,  Nancy  Angler.  Sally  Bishop.  Leu-is. 
Lacy  Bruce,  Keoue.  iVeue  Call.  Eliza  Cole.  Stilhvater. 
Mai'tina  Ann  Cole,  Mary  Cole,  Roby  Cole.  Marietta  Claik. 
Julia  Clark.  Paaielia  Clark,  Mary  Cutting,  Mahala  Drake. 
Sophionia  Dral;e.  Mai'y  Ann  Ferris.  Pamelia  Fiuuv.  Anna 
Finny.  Betsey  Fisher,  CynrhiaFisber.  MaryFost..'r,Moriah. 
Jane  Agnes  Flack,  \Villsborougb.  Mariah Gibson.  Spring 
Arbor,  Mich.  Mary  Gould,  Essex.  Emily  P.  Gross. 
Keeseville.  Mary  A.  Hammond.Jane  E.  Hammond.  Phebe 
F.  Hall,  Jav.  Eunice  Hatch, Mary  Ann  Henderson.  Mari- 
etta Hickock.  Xev.-  Haven.  Vt.  Sybil  Agnes  Hairar.  >Fiddie- 
bu  ry .  Vt.  El  v  i-ra  H  ende  rsbn .  ElmiraHolcomb.  IS'an  e  v  M .  How  - 
ard,'Moriab.  Sary  M.  Howard,  Benson,  Vt.  Betsey  Isman. 
Caroline  Isman.  Essex.  /.  ugusta  M.  Kent.  Catharine 
Kent.  EstherKetchel,  Essex.  Catharine  Low, Lewis.  Lsa- 
bella  G.  Mead,  Jane  ^L  Meaa.  Sarah  Mead,  Sylvia  Mer- 
riam,  Essex.  Mary  F.  McLeod.  Betsey  Morse,  Louisa 
Morse.  HarrierNe«leton,Jav.  Mary  Ann  ParkilL  Essex. 
Caroline  E.  Peck,  Keeseville.  Esther  P.  Ranuey,  Eliza 
Ann  Reynolds.  Anna  Jane  Reynolds.  Clarissa  Richards, 
Catnaline  Rising.  Sarah  Ann  Rust,  New  York  City. 
Samuutha  Sawyer.  West  Haven.  Vt.  Cbristeeu  Sheldeu. 
Ess.^x.  CaroliueSpencer.  Harriet  S}>encer.  Eliza  Sprajjue. 
New  Haven, Vt.  Esther  Stafford.  Essex.  Annia  Stearnes. 
E!iz;ibethtowu.  Jane  A.  Stoddard.  Bui-linirton,  Vt. 
Celia  Stone,  Clintonville  Jane  E.  Stow.  Ke.^seville.  Al- 
mira  Sturtevant,  MariahSturtevant.  Harriet  Tarbell.  Mo- 
riah.  Jerusha  Young.  Sarah  Young.  Ekiorah  Whallon, 
Charl'.tte  Whallon,  E'^sex.     Rebecca  Wvman,  Srhrom. 


V 


JI J  STORY  OF  WKSrrOUT 


Primary  School. 

.  .  r- 
Males,  li").     Females,  15. 
Keeapitulatiou.       Male  Dept.,  91.       Female   Dept.,    77. 

Primary  School,  40.        Total  208. 
Attendiuof  1st  Term,  com.  1st  Moudav  in  Jan.,  124. 

2ud     "  '        May,  101. 

3rd     '•  Sept.,  111. 

Average  per  Term,  112. 

Tuitiou  per  Quarter,  for  the  Common  Fn^lis^h 
Studies,  §3.00 

For  the  Languages  and  Higher  Branches,  $4.50 

Music  with  use  of  Piano,  $10.00 

Chemical  Lectures,  §3.00 

Charles  Hatch,  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 
Aaron  B.  Mack,  Secretary. 

The  Principal,  Orson  Kellogg,  graduated  from  the 
University  of  Vermont  in  1823,  Laving  entered  from 
Elizabethtown,  N.  Y.  He  remained  at  the  Lead  of  tLe 
Academy  for  eigLt  years,  presiding  over  the  busy  Live 
of  tLu  boarding  house,  and  is  remembered  as  exceed- 
ingly efficient  iu  every  capacity.  From  Yfestport  Le 
seems  to  Lave  gone  to  Xew  York,  wLere  ho  tauglit 
school  for  a  number  of  years,  and  died  there  in  1853. 

Following  Mr.  Kellogg  as  Principal  was  William 
Higby,  of  Willsboro,  \vh(.)se  name  appears  as  a  student 
in  thisyear's  catalog.  He  graduated  from  the  University 
of  Vermont  in  1840,  and  practiced  law.  When  gold  was 
discovered  in  California  he  joined  in  the  rusL  to  the 
Pacilic  ccast,  iu  1850.  He  became  District  x\ttoruey 
of  California,  District  Judge,  went  to  the  State  Legi.sla- 
ture,  and  to  ^'ashington  as  Congressman  from  1853  to 
ISG'J.      lie  died  at  Santa  Kosa,  Cal.,  iu  1Sh7. 


\ 


.V6\9  ji/STo/n'  OF  wKsrroirr 

Anotiier  priucipal  was  a  Mr.  Dates,  sou  of  the  Ecv. 
Joshua  Bates,  president  of  Midillebiuy  College.  As  ] 
find  that  ho  liad  five  sons,  this  is  not  very  detinite. 

Around  the  name  of  Euiily  Gross,  the  '"Female 
teacher,"  cluster  memories  of  the  most  engaf^iug  ro- 
mance. She  was  beautiful,  talented,  highly  educated, 
'beloved  by  all  who  kucvx-  her.  She  was  daughter  of 
that  Ezra  C.  Gross  to  whom  William  Kay  paid  such  a 
flourishing  compliment  when  he  told  Governor  Tomp- 
kins the  n;ime  of  his  fellow  editor  of  the  Ucv^^Wc.  Her 
mother  was  a  ]\Iiss  Fisher  of  Elizabethtown.  After  the 
death  of  father  and  mother  she  was  adopted  by  ]Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Oliver  Keese  of  Keeseville,  and  she  was  given 
''a  finished  education"  by  the  Free  Masons.  She  after- 
ward married  a  millionaire,  or  at  least  a  very  wealthy 
man,  Mr.  liansom  E.  Wood,  and  one  romantic  incident 
of  her  life  is  that  of  her  daughter's  receiving  the  auto- 
gra|)h  of  Piiiice  Uismarek,  after  having  been  receivtd 
at  the  court  of  Uerlin.  And  now  tlie  beautiful  Emily, 
who  once  smiled  upon  the  half-grown  boys  and  girls 
w  ho  flocked  up  and  down  our  Washington  street — the 
grandfathers  and  grandmothers  of  the  present  genera- 
tion— lies  buried  in  an  English  church-yard,  at 
Matlock,  Cath,  in  Derbyshire,  and  there  in  the  little 
church  you  may  see  a  memorial  window  which  com- 
memorates her  virtues.  Perchance  some  of  our  own 
girls  who  are  now  teaching  school  in  Westport  may, 
sixty  years  hence,  have  a  like  romantic  story  of  beauty 
and  good  fortune  for  some  chronicler  to  write  down. 

Anotiier  teacher  in  the  Academy  was  ]Miss  Charlotte 


s 


lIlSTORy  OF  WESTPORT  3S9 

Holly  Kitebel,  v.  sister  of  the  Rev.  Harvey  Deuisou 
Kitchel,  prosidoui  of  Mkldlobary  College  from  18GG  to 
1873.  She  marriod  the  Eev.  Dauiel  Ladd,  a  Congrega- 
tional triinistor  who  went  as  a  missionary  to  Turke}-, 
and  iu  that  foreign  land  she  spent  thirty-one  years  of 
her  life,  bearing  five  children  while  iu  exile. 

Other  teachers,  according  to  the  memory  of  some  of 
our  old  people,  were  Lucy  Ann  Clark,  daughter  of  David 
Clark,  Mrs.  Farrar,  Miss  Ursula  Kelley  and  a  Miss 
Whittlese\',  said  to  be  a  sisier  of  the  Hev.  William  "W. 
Hiekox.  who  built  the  stone  cottage  on  the  hill  south  of 
the  Village,  now  owned  by  Mr.  Sherwood. 

Some  of  the  girls  whose  names  appear  in  this  cata- 
log as  pupils  afterward  taught  in  the  Academy  and  in 
the  district  schools  in  town,  as  Mar}'  Ann  Hammond 
and  Augusta  and  Katharine  Kent.  Sarah  Young, daugh- 
ter of  Alexander  young,  had  the  great  good  fortune  to 
tinish  )ier  education  at  tlie  Troy  Female  Seminary 
which  Miss  Emma  Willard  made  so  famous  between 
the  yeiirs  182i  and  1838.  To  attend  this  seminary  was 
the  height  of  every  studious  girls  ambition  at  this  time, 
in  this  region.  It  was  a  place  where  girls  learned  no 
overwhelming  amount  of  science  or  dead  languages,  but 
they  did  learn  good  manners  and  fine  needlework. 
Beautiful  embroidery  Sarah  Young  brought  back  from 
Miss  Willard's  school,  and  much  of  the  delicate  work 
of  our  grandmothers,  still  preserved  in  many  of  the  old 
families,  was  done  after  the  patterns  used  by  Miss 
Willard's  pu[)lls. 


i 


390  IlISTOm'  OF  W'ESTl'Oin' 

Among  the  boys  who  became  famous  was  William 
Greeuough  Thayer  Shedd  who  received  the  degree  of 
A,  M.  from  the  rniversity  of  Vermont  in  1813,  tliat  of 
I).  D.  from  Audover  Tlicological  Seminary,  and  of  LL. 
]^.  from  t!ie  Uiiiveri-ity  of  New  York  in  later  years,  was 
professor  of  Sacred  Literature,  Ecclesiastical  History- 
and  kindred  subjects  at  Andover,  Auburn  and  ]S^ew 
York,  and  published  a  long  and  heav\-  list  of  books" on 
Philosophy  of  History,  Dogmatic  Theology,  Doctrim.- 
of  Endless  Punishment,  etc.  Jolm  L.  Merriam,  in 
later  years,  went  to  Minnesota,  was  elected  to  Congress, 
and  became  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Pepresentatives. 
His  son  became  Governor  of  the  State.  Jonathan  Tar- 
bell  was  Provisional  Governor  of  the  City  of  New  Or- 
leans during  its  occupation  by  United  States  troops,  in 
the  Civil  War.  Edward  Samuel  Shumway  went  from 
Westport  to  Middlebury  College,  graduating  in  IS'JO, 
and  spending' the  rest  of  his  life  as  a  lawyer  in  Essex. 

Judge  James  13.  Mclvean  of  Saratoga,  Member  of 
Congress  and  first  Colonel  of  the  77th  Pegimeut,  X.  Y. 
v.,  was  at  one  time  a  student  of  this  academy,  as  was 
also  Captain  Samuel  C.  Dwyer,  of  the  HSth. 

The  name  of  James  W.  Eddy  shows  that  this  famiU 
were  now  in  town,  probaltly  coming  not  long  before  tliis. 
The  father  of  James  Walker  Eddy  and  Charles  Henry 
Eddy,  afterward  so  well-known  as  business  men  in 
Westport,  was  Justin  l^ddy,  who  came  from  Pockiug- 
ham,  \i.,  having  previously  lived  at  Saxtmi  Piver,  Yt. 
He  was  a  lineal  descendant  of  that  William  Eddy,  Vi- 
car of  St.  Dunstau,  (.'rauforri,  County  of  Kent,  England, 


HISTORY  OF  Wi:  ST  PORT  S91 

who  was  the  progt.intor  of  so  many  of  the  Aioerieau 
Eddys.  The  Hou.  Matthew  H;i]o  of  Albany  was  also 
a  descendant  of  the  Vicar  of  St.  Duustan's.  C.  H.  Edd^- 
married  ^Marietta  Hickolc,  but  J.  W.  Eddy  remained  a 
bachelor,  and  when  he  died  left  his  property  to  his 
brother, 

,The  Lecturer  "appointed  for  the  ensuing  3'ear"  was 
Dr.  Evander  W.  liaune}',  who  h.ad  not  tlieii  been  long 
in  town.  He  was  the  sou  of  Dr.  Waitstill  Ilaudolph 
llLUiuey  of  Townshend,  A't.,  a  man  very  well-known 
throaghoutYermont  in  those  days, with  the  versatile  New 
England  ability  for  doing  many  thing,  and  doing  theni 
all  well.  He  practiced  as  a  country  doctor,  being  at 
the  same  time  almost  continuously  in  some  public  of- 
fice, rising  gradually  to  be  State  Senator,  and  then 
Lieutenant  Governor.  Ele  was  also  a  farmer,  and  a 
successful  one,  as  would  appear  from  a  remark  made 
near  the  end  of  his  life:  "it  was  in  a  great  measure 
through  the  products  of  the  farm  that  I  acquired  the 
means  of  giving  four  of  my  sons  a  collegiate,  and  three 
others  a  medical  education,  at  the  same  time  laying  up 
something  for  future  necessities."  As  he  had  thirteen 
children,  he  might  well  liave  been  proud  of  making 
professional  men  of  seven  sous.  Of  the  three  who  were 
doctors,  two  settled  for  a  while  in  Westpor.t^Dr.Evander 
W.  liauuey  practicing  here  from  1835  to  1844,  and  then 
removing  to  New  York,  while  his  brother  Dr.  Henry  D. 
Kanney  succeeded  to  his  practice  here,  remaining  until 
1857.  I  tliink  both  of  the  Doctors  Ranney  lived  on 
Washington  street,  in  the  house  which  has   been   ocou- 


i 


.V.92  IIISTOllY  ()F   WE  ST  PORT 

]Med  almost  contituiously  since  by  succeedinL:^  doctors, — 
by  Dr.  Piiclinrdsotj,  J)r.  Barber  and  ])r.  DeT.ano,  au<] 
liow  by  Dr.  Holt. 

Dr.  Evaiider  wa.s  not  the  first  Eaniiey  in  town,  as  Lis 
uncle  Elenz'ir  H.  llauney  bad  been  bere  at  least  since 
1824,  liviuj^  nortb  of  the  bay,  ou  the  present  John  Brown 
farm.  Eleazer  Eauney  and  his  family  were  faithful 
members  of  the  Congregational  church  at  Wadhanis, 
and  the  church  books  show  that  they  went  away  in  1850. 
The  father  of  Eleazar,  an  elder  Waitstill,  lived  with 
him,  died  in  1S39,  and  was  buried  at  Northwest  Bay. 
There  was  another  brother  of  Dr.  Evauder  who  is 
known  in  Westport  annals  as  "Elder  Eanney,"  lieiug 
Darwin  Harlow  Eanney,  who  graduated  from  Middle- 
bury  College  in  1835,  and  came  to  Westport  the  same 
year,  preaching  in  the  Baptist  church,  and  being  or- 
daiiietl  to  the  Baptist  ministry  in  August.  He  seems 
to  have  stayed  no  more  than  a  year.  He  married  Sybil 
Hale  McKinuey,  sister  of  Norris  3IcKinney. 

1 880. 

Town  Meeting  hehl  at  Spencer's  Hotel. 

John  Chandler.  Supervisor. 

Diodorus  S.  Holcomb,  Clerk. 

Gideon  Jrlaminond  and  Lfwis  Cadj,  Justices. 

Eljfnezer  r)oLii;lass.  Isaac  Stone  and  Cal viu  Angier,  As- 
sessors. 

Marcus  J.  Hoisington,  Collector. 

Newton  Hays,  Alaoson  Barber,  John  Greeley,  Jr.,  Road 
Cuninhs.sioui.-is. 

IJ.  S.  Hulcoinb,  Aarou  B.  Mack,  Abialhar  Pollard.  Schcol 
Conimissioni'fs. 

Joseph  R.  Delano.  Miles  M 'F.  Sawyer.  Kuos  S.  Warner, 
School  lur>pcclor^. 


i 


ursmnr  of  wKsrrour  .".ro 

Uezokiab  I'arbcr  and  r>fvi  Frisbie.  Poor  M;istri-s. 

Marcus  J.  Huisiutrt'tn.  Alansim  Doutmi,  John  Srunc, 
S<-vmour  Curtis.  Coiistabli's. 

Xovvtoii  Hays.  Scaler  of  Wei<x!its  aiul  Measni-es. 

I'atlunasters.  -  Ilorace  Ormsby.  John  Stouc.  CbarU's 
I'isher.  l^evi  Frisbie.  "Amos  Culver.  >Files  M"F.  Sawver. 
William  Vial!.  Isaac  D.  Lyou.  E.  U.  Rauney,  Elijah  An.i^icr. 
(JeorLje  W.  Sturtevant.  Jason  Braman,  Jason  Duiistor. 
Justin  Prouty.  Bouianiin  Cakhvell.  JohnLobdell,  Johnson 
IliU.  I'berou  Slaughter.  Gideon  Hammond.  Joseph  Stacy, 
J  I-..  Horace  Holconib,  Soh-mon  Slorkwell,  Wilson  K.  Low, 
Mises  Felt.  Joscjih  Farnaai.  Gcortre  Skinner,  XatUanii'! 
Allen.  George  Vau>_d)an.  Jonathan  Cady.  Eniorv  Mather. 

Adjourned  to  the  Inn  of  H.  J.  Person. 

Hpeucer's  Hotel  stood  whore  the  Glenwood  liin  nou' 
•itatuls,  on  the  Iiill,  at  the  junction  of  North  and  Pleas- 
.-iiit  .streets.  Alexander  Spencer  had  been  here  since 
IS-^r*.  There  was  a  Dr.  Spencer  in  this  family,  (which 
is  not  that  of  Victor  Spencer,)  who  was  a  student  in 
the  office  of  ])r.  Wri^dit. 

It  was  about  18:57  tliat  tlio  Congregational  church  at 
W'adhams  was  erected,  on  the  to}i  of  the  hill  jnst  west 
'>f  the  river.  In  those  days  it  seems  to  have  been  al- 
most a  rule  that  the  churches  should  1)e  built  on  the 
highest  hill-tup  available,  llerl!apr^  with  an  idea  of  let- 
ting their  light  so  shine.  The  same  thing  may  l>e  ol'- 
f-erved  of  many  of  the  school  houses.  Later,  this  church, 
like  the  Baptist  church  at  the  J3ay,  was  move(Ho  lower 
ground.Ats.uiie  timeuotfarfrouilS7o,on€  winter  when  the 
rixer  was  frozen,  the  church  menil)ers  canie  together 
with  horses  and  oxen  and  chains  and  screws,  and  all 
things  needful,  and  moved  the  church  down  the  bank, 
upon  the  ice.  and  across  to  the  opposite  side,  where  it 
.••oiv  .slai.nls.      'J'iiis  was  lln-  o'llv  church  rMliJicc  in  Wad- 


/ 


3ii4  IIISTURY  or   WKSTl'Uirr 

liaiijs  until  the  MethcHlist.  l-^piscopal  cliuifh  w.is  built  in 

i8'j;]. 

This  ye;u' ]jiljcity  street  was  tii^t  oponeJ,  its  exist- 
ence up  to  this  time  luiviuj^  been  only  witnessed  bv  th-- 
fast  yellowing  paper  of  the  Ananias  map.  There  wa-s 
also  another  street,  which  1il-.s  never  yet  received  a  nani',-, 
thus  (leserilioil  in  thesnr',e\  bill :  ''Also  uue  other  road, 
beginiiin;^  on  the  south  side  of  Washiii^tciu  stre.ji, 
tliirty-sevea  and  oue-half  linlcs  from  tlio  west  end  of  tlu' 
Essex  Coui>ty  Aoadeniv  in  said  viUago  of  Westport, 
running  froiu  thence  soutli  fifteen  de;^rees,  east  ninc 
chains  and  rjix  links,  u;dil  it  intersects  said  Liberty 
street  in  s;iid  village.  Said  r(jad  to  be  three  rods  wid- 
at  loast."^  ])ated  WestjxM't,  May  -iO,  l8o(^  and  si-ne.i 
by  Diadorus  S.  HoIcon\b,  Surveyor,  and  by  the  roa.l 
commissioners  oi  the  year. 

The  necessary  pernilssiou  from  the  owners  of  tli.- 
land  through  w]iiel\  the  new  strt^et  was  opened  is  thu- 
i^ivt-n  :  'd  am  wiilinL;  that  the  above-iritMitioned  roa^l 
«>hould  lie  i>]jenetl  a^reeai>le  to  the  abovt^-mentioned  sur- 
vey bill,  with  such  alterations  to  l)e  made  as  I  hav^^ 
suggesteil  to  Mr.  Sawyer.  ]t  is  understood  that  my 
father  aiul  my>,Ldf  are  not  to  be  at  any  expensi^  in  fenc- 
ing any  i).irt  of  said  roads."  Signed  Piatt  IJ.  Halstead, 
May  al,  iS^JIv  Then  further  :  "1  hereby  agree  to  build 
the  feneu  on  the  side  of  the  road  adjoining  the  land  now 
occupird  by  .Tohu  Halstead,  or  that  which  ho  has  not- 
released  his  i^Iaim  to,  mentiont.>d  ov  descii!)'.'d  in  th-- 
witliin  surv-v  bill.""     Sigurd  Mih/s    MT.   Sawver,   who 


y 


iiisronr  of  ]vi:sTr<>in'  hou 

ii!avi*iecl  the  daughter  <tf  .)oliii    llalstt\-id,   uml  -iPfiiis  to 
\\n\e  been  canvi)iL'  on  Ijix.  land. 


TtAvn  Meetin-i;  at  the  \uu  of  H.  J.  IVrsdus.  .^    ,.   , 

lieuaJLih  P.  Doujrlass.  Supervisor.  " '  ' 

Diodorus  S.  liuleoaib,  Cloi-k. 

Cbarles  Hatch.  Cdlviu  .-\ogie!-  Joseph  [Lirdy.  Assessors. 

Seymour  Curtis,  ColU'ctor. 

William  L.  Wad  burns.  Justice. 

Isaac  Aldeu.  Grauvillo  Stoat.',  Ihv.ekiuh  Barber,  K  )ad 
CumniissioDers. 

Miles  .M'F.  Sa^vyer.  .Albert  P.  Cole.  Jasou  Dutister. 
Sihool  Commissioucrs. 

Diodorus  S.  Holcomb.  Orsoa  Kelloir';,  Asahel  Lyou. 
Sehool  luspeetors. 

iTorace  Holcomb  and  Coorge  D.  Reynolds.  I'oor  Masters. 

Seymour  Cui-tis.  Johu  A.  ilill,  Erastus  Lo\eland.  ..Man- 
son  Denton.  Constables. 

Eiios  S.  Waruer.  Sealer  of  Wei<^hts  aud  measures. 

Patbmasters.—Alvia  Burt,  Otis  Sheldon,  Charles  Fish- 
^'i-.  l^cvi  Frisljie.  Lorriu  Cole,  Aaron  B.  Maek,  Williani 
\'ia!l.  Isaac-  I^.  Lyon.  Noel  Merrill,  lleary  Hoyce.  John 
Strvfos.  WiUiaui  \j.  Wadhams,  John  Lock.  Joel  Finney. 
John  S.  Stanton.  Jarcd  GoodalL  Harvey  Smith.  Albert 
Strai^^'hatD.  John  Chandh'r.  HL-nry  Stone.  Frederick'  T. 
Houard.  Charles  Doty.  Lee  Prouty"!  Dariu.>  Merriam.  Jn^,- 
t  j.lj  J-'arnatn.  Sti-phea  Sherman.  Williaoi  Olds.  f]rastus 
Lovolaud.  Jonathan  Cady.  ?21isli«i  Royue. 

Survey  of  a  ntad  iu  the  Iron  Ore  Tract  "from  a  Keecli 
tree  o!t  the  east  lim;  of  Lot  No.  47  to  beech  sa[)liug  in 
ihf  south  liue  (d'  \o.  7."  This  is  a  line  example  of  the, 
1  indmarL's  nfteu  iinlieateil  by  the  earlv  snrvevm's. 
Surely  a  beeeh  s.iplini^  w.is  not  very  satisfaetory  as  an 
i'liibnuii^  monuiuiMit.  The  writer  remembers  a  ih^ed  iu 
-sihieli  a  re)tai)i    iMUiudavy    vas    made    to    de]»e.'jd    upon 


y 


:i!Hi 


iiisTuL'Y  (,].'  \vi:sri'()}rr 


'  thefeDCc'-an.uua  thcHve-acro  lot  that  was  .souo,.l  to 
coru  last  year."  As  tho  lot  liad  been  abaudoued  to  the 
loresL  years  boforo  and  was  overgnnvn  witli  a  tii.. 
youiig  <.rove  of  pine  aud  Jiemlook  at  tlic  time  at  which 
It  was  desired  to  transfer  the  land,  it  was  necessary  to 
supplement  the  docunieutary  evidence  witli  that  of" the 
luemory  of  the  Oldest  Jnliabitaut. 

Tlds  is  the  year  that  Victoria  was  proclaimed   Queen 
oi  Lnglaud,  and  that  in  which   Martin  Van  Buren   was 
iiuiu-urated  J>reside.,t.     At  Shelburne  Harbor  was  buiU 
the-Lurlington,  the  largest  and  fastest  steamer  yet  seen 
on  the  lake,  one  hundred  and  ninetv  feet  long/twentv- 
tiye  feet  wide  and  nine  feet  deep,  with  a  speed  of  fifteen 
miles  an  hour.      Her  captain  w..s  llicha.-d  W.  Sherman 
tlio  famous  "Captain  Dick,"  of  whotn  President  Van 
iJuren,  often  his  passenger,  said,  "He  imagines  that  ail 
the  world  is  the  deck  of  a   ship,   and   he   the   captain" 
It  was  upon.the  n.rli,,,tuu  that  Cliarles  Dickens  j^assed 
through  Lake    Champhun    on  his   American    tour    tive 
years  aft..r  iids.     The  o!d  }>lu:uic  was  just  condemned 
and  for  hfteen  years  the  people  in   Westport  saw  the 
L"rlinjfo>,  steaming  back  and  forth  upon  tbe  lake    Not 
yet  were  regular  landings  made  in  the   bav.  passen<^ers 
^->ing  on  board  in  a  small  boat,  although   the  steanuns 
stopped  at    the  wharf   at   lUrber's  Point,    and   on  that 
uccount  It  was  common   for  those   who   wished   to  take 
the  boat  to  go  to  the  Point  for  the  purpose. 

This  year  the  Methodi.st  Episcopal  church  was  lin- 
isiied  and  dedicated,  tho  uiovement  for  its  (uection  hav- 
ing l.eguu  tl.r.e  y.ars  before.     Thr.buihlingeomudtte. 


y 


jiisro/n'  or  \vi:srr()irr  .v.-^- 

v>as.  Dr.  ])i;iaoru>;  Hi)lcoinl»,  Churl. -s  J',.  Ilitcli  iind  Levi 
V'risbie,  v..\m\  subsci-iptions  wei'e  U^  be  paid  "one-foiirtli 
ill  casli  and  three  fourths  in  griod  merchantable  neat- 
cattle,  grain  or  ir(»n."  The  house  was  about  forty  b\- 
sixty  feet  iu  outsi^le  ineasiireni?iit,  and  builr  of  .st(nu> 
bnnight  from  Luttou  Day  i.■^land,  four  ndles  ;!,\\  ay  across 
Vn.-  lake.  At  thi>,  time  the  ]b-v.  Peter  C.  Oakley  was 
presiiling  eld'';r,  and  Lewis  J'otter  and  H.  Sb:uai-t  act- 
ed as  circuit  preachers.  Two  years  afterward  ^Vestport 
was  made  a  station,  with  John  \V.  Belknap])  as  station- 
ed preacher,  and  soon  after  a  j)arsonage  was  built,  just 
north  of  the  church. 

In  the  Baptist  church  very  important  action  was 
taken  in  the  a(lo|>tion  of  what  they  called  "the  temper- 
•ance  resolution."     It  ran  as  foHows: 

"Bescdved  that  we  resolve  ourselves  into  a  temper- 
ance Church,  so  that  any  mcndnn'  of  the  church  who 
>hall  use  or  trailic  iu,  or  promote  the  use  oi  or  traillc  in 
ardent  spirits  or  wines  as  a  beverage,  shall  be  liable  to 
ial)onr  b}-  any  member  of  the  church  who  shall  be  ac- 
quainted with  tlie  fact,  and  to  CAclusion  in  case  of  )-e- 
fusal  to  reform."  It  is  evident  that  this  resohitiiui  was 
iK^t  v>''issed  without  some  ditliculty,  as  it  had  been  uiuler 
discussion  since  April,  and  it  was  at  least  six  years 
since  the  national  temperance  movement  mavbe  said  to 
liave  begun.  There  is  uo  doui)t  that  drinking  habits 
wei'e  exccedin^-ly  prevalent  in  \Vi-stj)ort  as  well  as  in  all 
other  places,  as  we  know  too  well  from  accounts  with 
which  we  are  all  fauiiliar.  It  is  startling  to  read  the 
(lid    ciiurch    lci.-oi-(,!>,    and    Uol-    thr    \a\■•'^'    iMoooilion    of, 


mts  iiisToL'Y  or  wrsrroirr 

oases  ul'  (li  uiiKt'iaioss  which  eauie  undrr  the  rcin'oba- 
tioii  of  the  chtu-rh,  showiui^  that  citiisciontioas  peojil-^ 
were  lal)r)iiii^  faithfully  ac^^ainst  ovorwhehning  OvM<. 
Tlieio  is  a  hoicibh.'  ston'  toKl  of  some  on.'  of  the  ohhT 
ottoLul.'rs  (hut  tiot  a  (■hnich  ineinb.M-,'  sittinf,'  at  tli-- 
tahle  one  niglit  lh■illkil);^^  iieai-  the  eiul  of  a  i)fol(Jii^e.l 
pei-ioil  of  iiulii!i;(;i}ce,  leachiui^  U)V  his  botllo  with  his 
ai'in  clos. :  io  thr!  tiaiue  of  the;  caDuie,  aiul  seeiuij;  a  !)lu'> 
fiarue  run  up  his  arm  as  thoe.^^h  the  bhi/.e  liail  touehel 
the  surface  of  alcohol.  It  is  added  that  the  horror  of 
the  siorht  led  to  the  druuk/ud's  refonnatiou  and  wheth- 
er it  l>e  lifei-dly  true,  or  invented  l>y  some  one  who  h  i;t 
just  read  Dickens'  "-Bleak  House,"'  in  which  the  case  of 
s[K)utaneons  eombastion  is  so  subtly  anil  powerfulK 
niana<;;ed.  the  story  goes  to  show  somethin^^  of  the  con- 
ditions needing  reformation.  When  the  l^ijitist  church 
adopted  the  temperance  resolution,  the  pastor  was  the 
Kev.  Cyrus  -W.  Hodgos,  the  church  clerk  Joel  A.'  CaU 
hoon,  and  the  doacoiis  Gid.-on  ILimmond  and  George 
Jk  llevuolds. 


Town  Meeting  In-hl  at  H.  .1.  Persou.s. 

Jiibu  ChaiuUor,  Supervisor. 

D.  S.  llolcoaib.  Clerk. 

Diodorus  iIolcoii»b.  Justice. 

Iku-Dabas  Myrii-k.  Alausuu  rMU-l>er.  Jose[>h  R  rKdaiio, 
As.ses.su  rs. 

S«'yinour  Curtis.  CnlK-ctor. 

(iraiiville  Stoii»<.  tlc/.i'Kiah  Ikirber.  Jason  Brainan.  floai.l 
ConunissiotwM's. 

Ira  ![f!Hl.-i-s..n.  .A-ah.'l  f.vou.  Wtlliaiu  Frlsbie.  Sa-Ii->.'1 
Conuei>s;,.n.,T.., 


//isrn/n' or  ]y/:sTrr/j:T  son 

iJavki  M.  Sayrr.  T.  li  D.^lun...  Mil-.s  MF.  Sawv,-!-.  Srh(M,l 
1  uspectors. 

Calvia  An.i/ier  and  Jaruos  W.  ('u;t.  Poor  .Mar^tor>, 

Soyiiiour  Curtis,  Krastus  r.i~;V('l;!iid.  Alans(;i)  DcntDii. 
C.nstables. 

S.-u-ail  Cutlia,":.  S^'aK-r  uf  WriL^bts  a'ld  .Moasaii's. 

ruthmasters,  — Itdph  ]li,i,'ai  av.  M  1L.  TWd.  flarry  Culc 
N'wron  Flays.  H.  J.  Persons;.  William  \'ial!.  .Idaatiiari 
M  iieoinb.  Asahtd  LyoQ.  Lutlicr  .\u\:wv.  Cn^nv^,.^  W.SturLc- 
vaiit.  Kii  Wood.  David  M.  Sayn-.  Au<^iistus  Hdl.  Orrin 
^idnr.cr.  .lo^ltua  Slaun;i;tf'r.  Joliason  IlilL  Leonard  Xw-vy. 
Joliii  Cbciudler.  Alou/.o  S!auj.dittM-.  Jaiuos  McCoid(>\.  Kzo- 
kirl  }'au^d>urti.  T.ee  Prouty.  Mose.s  tVU.  Jdscpli  Farnaiii. 
S:.'[)b('ii  Shertiiaii.  Williutu  Olds.  Leonard  Ware.  .Toiiathai. 
("ady.  JoiiQ  Stone,  iinrl  .Mr.  Ivui:/iits, 

111  t-lie  dreary  obscurity  of  the  dc-scrlptious  of  the  road 
~urveys  we  catch  siud;  woiils  au(]  {dirases  a.s  •'the  Jviui;- 
(hun,"  '"the  l>ridii;e  oti  the  'J\)\vu  I.iitie  e;ist  of  Lidjdnll 
and  Mvrick'.s  forge,"  "Storrs  and  Hatch's  iov^v,"  with 
*-Mme  locality  uijerriuL,dy  determined  by  '"the  small 
l.r-.ok  southeasterly  td'  Paddock  :\rcGuyei's  h<uise."' 
The  surveyor  wa<  Piatt  P.  IJaUiead.  Th--  .Justices 
were  Diodorus  Kulc(;nib,  Williaiij  L.  V,'adli;Mii.->  antl  Ira 
jj-'i'.dersou.  'J  lie  Ma  nil;er  of  Asseujbly-  fvoiu  uur  ilis- 
friet  \\  as  (xideoi)  Hiunmond. 

]SM8  was  the  year  of  the  "Pafiueaii  War"  in  C'a.ii;)da. 
.It  was  no  great  coutiict,  but  uur  tnwii  lay  near  enough 
ti>  the  froutier  to  share  a  little  (•!  the  exicitenit-nt,  and 
renewed  attentiou  was  paid  to  ndlitary  uiatters.  The 
militia  trainings  had  fallt-n  somewhat  i!ito  negU-ct,  Imt 
now  behold  our  martial  youth  on.-e  moie  arrayed  for 
eoii(|utjst,  and  fornied  into  .in  artillery  i'om]»any,  of 
which  Asahel  Lyon  was  the  captain,  while  llaiiy  .T. 
J'")>o!i  was  (•o](;m,^|  (;f  th.-  ifgiim-ut.      Tin- 'j,tMj.'ra]  iiin.— 


400 


nisToRY  OF  \vi:sTj'<)irr 


tei-  xvas  at  l.uko  Croor-e  ni  this  time.  The  Westpuit 
coinpanv  eunsisteJ  of  thirty  uv  forty  luou,  but  the  oiily 
n.-Uii..s  .^iven  me  are  those  of  EamimJ  J.  Smith,  Jam,A 
A.  Allen  ami  Etlwiu  iVison,  sou  of  the  colonel.  Th.^v 
were  never  called  forth  to  f.^ht.  and  so  never  becam".- 
fuuious,  but  thoy  ,>une.l  a  real  cannon,  ].robabiv  the 
hrst  one  seen  in  town  .inc..  Gov.  Tou)|.kin.s  order..] 
cannon  s.-nt  in  to  iho  arsenal  at  Pleasant  Yjllev  bv  way 
of  Northwest  ]iay.  This  piece  of  ordnance  ligui^d  at 
celebrations  for  many  year.^  afterward,  and  at  last  burst 
lu  an  excess  of  enthusiasm  on  some  Fourth  (.f  Jul  v. 

^Before    the    Canadian    troubles    were    settled,    Gen. 
Wmtield  Scott  was  .stmt  into  Canada  by  our  government 
t"  iiitiuire  into  matters  a  litth>.      He  went  north  in   the 
winter,  by  the  line  .)f  stages  which  Peter  Comstock  had 
t^•u•|y  established  between  Xew  York  and  Montreal,  and 
passed  through  Westport,   stopping  at    H.    J.    J'erson"s 
hotel.     This,  of  course,  was  a  great  event,  and  it  is  t.. 
1'*^  linpcd  th;it  there  was  not  a  boy  in  the   village  who 
iiad  not  sulHcient  spirit   to  try  to  get  a  look  arthe  fa- 
mous general.     Among  the  many  stoiies  of  thi.s  period 
in  regard  tr>  the  .sympathy  felt  with   the  rebellious  col- 
onists among  a  people  who  had  within  twentv-tive  rears 
fought    w.th    England    thenr.ehe.s,    is  one    which  \[rs. 
A\illiam  (1.  Hunter  told   me,  (fifty  years  afterward,)  of 
the  .hiver  bringing  his  sleigh    around   to   the   door   for 
the  General  to  resume  his  journey  to  Canada,  and  ob- 
s.>rving  that  it  seemed  unnaturally  heavy.      On  examin- 
ation it  was  found  that  muskets  had  been  packed  iu  the 
b-ttom  of  the  .I.-i^ii  and  covered  with  the  butlalo  roLe> 


niSTuUY  OF  WK.srrORT  401 

by  souie  Cauadiau  sympathizer,  ^\•VJO  intended  thus  to 
send  them  across  the  Hue  to  tuo  insurgents.  Mrs.  Hun- 
ter added  that  there  was  no  reason  for  believing  the 
story,  wliich  was  probably  invented  long  after  Gen. 
Scott  had  disap[)eared  upon  the  snowy  horizon,  but 
that  it  showed  tlie  kind  of  tictiou  which  was  then. 
popular  among  the  groups  of  men  who  lounged 
around  the  stove  in  tlie  liar-room  or  the  store. 

This  was  the  year  in  which  tlie  Hunters  tirst  came 
from  Boston, bought  laud  on  North  Shore  and  built  the 
house  at  Hunter's  Bay  which  was  burned  in  1875.  ^Yil- 
liam  Guy  Hunter  was  born  in  1798,  and  was  therefore  a 
man  of  forty  wlien  he  came  to  Westport.  He  had  been 
a  sergeant  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  had  afterward  spent 
three  years  at  the  West  Point  Military  Academy.  His 
father  William  Hunter,  had  fought  in  the  Revolution, 
sharing  in  the  retreat  from  Quebec  in  the  summer  of 
1776,  and  thus  being  the  first  of  the  famil}-  to  see  our 
North  Shore,  as  he  passed  it  in  the  Continental  army. 
His  father,  David,  was  the  son  of  Jonathan  Hunter,  who 
came  from  England  to  xVmerica  in  the  earlier  years  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  and  married  Hopestill  Hamlin, 
of  llochester,  Mass. 

Doubtless  the  first  attraction  to  the  ])lace  for  Mr. 
Hunter  was  the  residence  here  of  his  elder  sister,  Mrs. 
Sewall  Cutting,  who  had  come  with  her  family  in  1823. 
Another  sister,  Mrs.  Aiken,  came  soon  afterward.  Mr. 
Hunter  soim  became  one  with  the  country  people,  took 
an  active  part  in  public  atVairs,  and  was,  after  a  few 
ytjars,  elected  su[)ervisi.>r  of  the  tu.Mi.     Many  sLoiicr^  <'l 


402  ITJSrORY  OF   Wi:  ST  POUT 

Ijis  words  ami    ways    are   still   told,    aucl  sncli   vrn.s  liis 

fame  as  a  conversationalist  that  a  myth-uialciug  process 

has  now  begun,  attributing  any  witty  or  shrewd  remark 

which  is  recognized  as  especially   applicable  to   West- 

})ort  or  to  Westport  people,  to   i\Ir.  Hunter.      In  this 

way  some  apocryphid  tales  are  told,  but  one   saying  of 

liis  we  can  vouch  for  as  authentic,  made  in  reference  to 

isorae  man  his  opinion  of  whom  had  been  asked.   ""Well," 

ir     said  Mr.  Hunter,  "in  the  sight  of  man  he   passes  for   a 

Si    ])retty  straight,  upright  kind  of  a  fellow;  in  the  sight  of 

(i     God  I  am 'afraid  he  wiggles  a  little."     This  has  tiie  true 

Hunteresquellavor — som.ething  which  no  one  else  would 

ever  have  thought  of  saying. 

Mr.  Hunter's  wife  was  Elizabeth  AVilson,  who  was 
onU'  twenty-three  when  they  came  to  "Westi-iort.  Her 
sister  Sarah,  six  years  younger,  soon  visited  her,  and 
was  accustomed  to  ride  about  tlie  country  on  horse- 
back. She  often  told  of  lier  first  meeting  with  Louis 
Agassiz,  the  great  naturalist,  in  the  solitary  road  which 
])ierces  the  forest  of  North  Shore,  and  of  his  astonish- 
ment at  meeting  there  a  young  girl  on  horseback,  en- 
tirelv  unattended.  He  was  then  not  long  from  Switz- 
erland, and  had  come  from  Cambridge  to  visit  Mr. 
Hunter.  ^Nliss  Sarah  Wilson  afterward  married  Col. 
Francis  L.  Lee,  of  Boston,  whose  father  was  a  wealth}' 
East  Lulia  merchant,  and  it  was  in  1848  that  they  built 
their  sumuier  home  on  a  hill  north  of  the  Eay,  over- 
looking a  glorious  view  of  the  lake  and  mountains,  and 
•.called  it  Stony  Sidt^. 

It  was  in  18U8  that  David  Turner,   then  in   the   news- 


HISTORY  OF  WE  ST  FORT  -f03 

paper  office  at  Kecsoville,  tells  of  a  visit  to  Elkanali 
Watson  at  Port  Kent. 

"It  was  here  the  writer  of  this  narrative  ImJ  the 
lioiior'to  visit  this  venerable  man  at  his  fine  stone  man- 
si'>u,  and  listen  to  his  description  of  events  from  the 
Revolationarv  war  up  to  that  time  ;  his  journey  to 
France  and  London,  and  the  story  of  Copley  ])ainting 
liis  portrait,  which  then  hnug  on  the  wall  before  me. 
It  was  here  I  met  the  then  President  of  the  United- 
States,  Martiu  Van  Bureu,  John,  his  son,  Henry  Cla}-, 
(Jovernor  Silas  Wright,  and  other  prominent  men  of 
tliat  day,  who  had  called  to  pay  their  respects  to  the 
distinguished  agriculturist  and  philanthropist.  He  had 
then  reached  his  eightieth  year." 

This  gives  an  interesting  glimpse  of  the  people  who 
might  be  met  on  the  passenger  steamers  and  packet 
bo;its  of  the  lake  and  the  canal,  in  the  leisurely  jour- 
ney from  the  waters  of  the  Hadson.  Many  stories  ar^' 
told  of  the  pleasure  of  these  journeys,  and  their  social 
possibilities,  which  were  akin  to  the  opportunities  of- 
fered by  a  voyage  at  sea.  Martin  Van  Bureu, — the 
little  Magician,  the  Fox  of  Kinderhook, — often  made 
the  trip  from  his  mansion  at  Kinderhook,  on  the  Hud- 
son, to  Lake  Champlaiu,  and  was  often  the  travelling 
companion  of  the  Hunters.  He  was  then  a  widower 
pa.st  fifty,  a  man  of  wealth,  a  successful  lawyer  and  pol- 
itician, who  looked  on  the  world  from  the  President's 
chair.  It  is  said  that  Miss  Sarah  Wilson  might  have 
l)fcome  Mrs.  Martin  Van  Bui  en  if  she  iiad  not  preferred 
rnrecouu'  ^Irs.  Francis  L.  Lot.-. 


4114  insTORY  OF  WEsrroirr 

It  was  tliis  year  that  navigation  on  tiic  lake  was  fa- 
cilitated by  tlje  erection  of  tbo  first  liglit-lionses,  at 
Cumberland  Head  and  Split  Eock. 

It«  seems  to  have  been  at  this  period  that  the  first  in- 
vestment of  Boston  capH;il  in  Essex  connty  iron  mines 
was  made,  as  this  year  the  Cheever  ore  bed,  then  al- 
most entirely  undeveloped,  was  sold  to  Mr.  Horace 
Grey  of  IJoston.  From  this  time  niitil  after  the  war 
.the  property  was  in  the  hands  of,  as  Watson  says,  "an 
incorporated  organization  composed  of  gentlemen  of 
afliueuce  residinu  in  Massachusetts." 


1889. 

Town  Meethig  held  at  the  Inn  of  H.  J.  Person. 
.Bonajah  P.  Doui^lass,  Supervisor. 

Franklin  H.  Cutting.  Clerk. 

John  ft.  IjOw.  Justice  of  the  Peace. 

Plait  ii.  llalstcad,  John  Chaudlei-.  Joseph  Hardy,  Asses- 
sors. 

Seymour  Curtis,  Collector. 

Alansou  Barber,  H.    J.    Person,    Jasou    Brainan,    Road 
Commissioners. 

Ira  Henderson,  Aaron  B.   Mack,    ^Villiam  L.   Wadbams, 
School  Commissioners. 

D.  S.  Holeomb,  Evand.r  W.  Rauney,  T).  H.  Sayre.  Scbool 
Inspectors. 

James  W.  Coll  and  CaKio  Ati>2rier,  Poor  Masters. 

Seymour  Curtis,  J.  F.  Brush,  Henry  Stone,  E.   H.   Coll, 
Sewall  Cutting,'.  Constables. 

James' Walker  Eddy,  Scaler  of  Wei^^dits  and  Measures. 

Pathmasters. — AppoUos    Williams.    Ji-..    Otis    Sheldon. 

Samuel  Ri'ot.    Tillinirhast    Cole,    Cyrus  Richaids.  llai'vey 

Pierce.  bJaruabasMyrickDiodorus  Holeomb. PMeu/.er  H.  Ran- 

ney, James  Marshall.  (ieoi'^'eW.Slurtevant,  Eli  Wood,  Jason 

-  DuDster.  Joel  K.  Freneh.  (.'eori^ro  Skinnci-.  Nathan  Slauirb- 

^TTt,  Ephraim  Bull,    Jr..    E.    B.    Nichols,    John    Chandler, 


IIISTORX  OF  WKSiroRT  '!".'> 

Willfam  Stacy,  William  IVrkius,  Solomoa  Stoekwell,  John 
Lewis.  Jr..  Muses  F.ilt.  Joseph  i'arnam,  Josliua  .Shiui,'h- 
tof,  H.  P.  Do'Jirlass,  Ei-astus  Lovelaud,  Joiiatluin  Cady, 
John  .Stone.  Jainr-s  Bartlett. 

In  December  of  this  year  Charles  B.  Hatch  was  ap- 
pointed Tou-o  Clerk  in  place  of  F.  H.  Cuttini'-,  who  had  re- 
.si;^'^ued. 

lu  tlie  summer  of  1S39  the  Baptist  church  was  moved 
froTii  the  top  of  the  hill  on  Washington  street  to  the  lot 
upon  Main  street  upon  which  stands  the  present  edi- 
fice. This  lot  had  been  owned  by  the  church  since 
ISoti,  and  it  is  evident  that  there  had  been  from  tiiat 
time  au  intention  to  move  the  building  ui)0ii  it,  since 
the  house  had  never  been  finished  where  it  first  stood. 
After  it  rested  upon  its  new  foundations,  close  upon  the 
street,  new  floors  wore  put  in,  with  siity-four  pews, 
which  According  to  the  custom  then  prevailing,  were 
rented  for  a  fixed  sum  each.  The  building  was  painted 
white,  with  green  blinds,  and  as  it  was  a  large  square 
house,  with  a  lai-ge  srpiare  belf)y  at  one  end  of  the  voo{, 
it  was  gazed  upon  with  intense  satisfaction  b}^  every- 
one who  h;id  bad  a  hand  in  its  construction,  as  a  per- 
fect example  of  the  most  recent  and  approved  ideas  of 
ecclesiastical  architecture.  The  pulpit  stood  on  a  high 
platform  at  the  western  end,  and  the  choir  sang  in  au 
alcove  op}H)site.  Xo  doulit  at  first  the  cus- 
tom of  the  audience  facing  about  with  faces  to  the  choir 
and  backs  to  the  minister  while  the  hymn  was  being 
.sung,  may  have  been  followed,  but  w;is  given  up  in  the 
next  generation.  There  was  a  large  basement  for  prayer 
meetings  and  Sunday  school,  and  the  new  church  was 
af"mwe  the  center  of  a  busy  social   life.      Two  hundred 


Kni  iiisToh'Y  OF  wKSTroirr 

aiul  twfuty-scvpu  members  \\ere  rcporteil  tLis  yedr  to 
the  A>soci;iti()U,  u  iiiunber  which  has  never  since  been 
rxoeedfih  The  pastor  at  this  time  was  the  ]le^■.  C3"nis 
"\V.  Hoil<^'es,  tlie  church  clerk  William  J.  Cutting,  and 
the  trustees  elected  since  1830  were  Caleb  P.  Cole, 
Norris  McKinue}',  Calvin  ami  Elijah  Augier,  Evamler 
AV.  Ilannoy,  "William  J.  Cutting,  Alexander  Young  and 
Aaron  H.  Mark.  That  the  M.  E.  church  was  also  in  a 
jirosperous  condition  is  slxnvu  by  the  fact  that  this  vear 
the  first  statiuued  jtreacher  was  assigned  to  tliu  })lact', 
the  Ivev.  John  \V.  Belknapp.  Measures  were  taken  for 
building  a  ]iarsonage,  which  were  consummated  some- 
what latei-. 

Just  coming  into  use  was  a  now  invention,  that  of 
maile  euvelo)>es  into  which  haters  were  put  before  they 
wei'e  sent.  Up  to  this  time  a  ]iart  of  the  education  of 
every  child  in  an  e  iucat^^d  family  was  the  intricate 
folding  (if  a  written  h-tttr  so  that  a  blank  .-^pace  should 
be  presented  tm  th.e  outside  upon  ^^hich  to  write  the 
addi-ess.  Postage  was  still  so  high  that  letters  were  a 
luxury,  unless  an  absolute  necessity,  and  with  the  new- 
fashioned  envehipes,  sealing  w.ix  was  used  fo)"  closing 
them.  Steel  jicns  had  been  invented  about  ten  years 
before  this,  but  were  by  no  means  it)  common  use. 

This  vear  Cyrenus  IXoekwell  I*avne  came  to  Wad- 
ham's  ]^Iills  from  l>rord<field  where  his  father,  Joseph 
Payne,  had  settled  in  1807.  He  opened  a  shoe  sho}> 
aijd  afterward  built  the  brick  house  which  is  still  owned 
in  the  family.  His  first  wife  was  Eliza  French,  daugh- 
%**»of  Joel  French,  and  their  children  were  :  On-in,  who 


jiLsroRY  or  WL'srruirr  -ioj 

ilieJ  lit  the  age  of  sixteen.  Delia,  uianieJ  Jiuld  Sayre, 
now  of  lowjt.  Joel  Osborne,  '/lio  livod  in  WliGclint^, 
West  Virginia,  and  amassed  a  large  fortune,  dyin;j;  iu 
1890.  Seward  Quiney,  now  living  iu  South  Dakota. 
Daniel  Saflord  French  J^ayne  has  always  lived  at  Wad- 
Ijaiu's  Mills,  ca)'rying  on  the  nulls  and  forge  for  many 
years,  and  tloiug  a  large  business  iu  iron  and  lumber. 
The  ;eeond  wife  of  Cyrenus  11.  Payne  was  Mrs.  Lueinda 
(Boutwelli  Stone,  and  their  children  were  twin  daugh- 
ters, Lueinda  and  Cornelia, 


1  8-10. 

Town  Meetiuj^f  at  11.  J.  Person. 

Barnabas  Mvrick.  Super\isor. 

.Tames  \V.  Eddy,  Clerk. 

Ira  Henderson.  Justice. 

Joseph  R.  Delano.  Aaron  B.  >Taek,  Levi  Frisbie.  Asses- 
sors. 

Guy  Stevens,  Collector. 

Samuel  Storrs.  Otis  Sheldon.  William  Viall.  Fioad  Com- 
missioners. 

Asabel  Havens.  David  H.  Sayre,  Albert  P.  Cole.  School 
Connnissloners. 

A.  M.  Olds.  Joel  K.  French,  D.  S.  Holcomb.  Sehool  Tti- 
spectors. 

James  \V.  Coll  and  Stephen  Sayre.  Poor  Masters. 

Guy  Stevens.  Jared  Goodell.  Seymour  Curtis.  L.  W. 
Pollard,  Constables. 

Charles  ihiti-h,  Sealer  of  \Veij.,dits  and  Measures. 

Pathmastei-s.— Jo.seph  Pi^^ulow.  E.  H.  Coll.  James  W. 
Coll,  John  Ferris.  David  Poixers,  Charles  Hatch,  Barnabas 
Myriek.  Asa  Lovt-laud.  Smith  Mooi-e.  Htmry  Royce,  Georg(> 
\\.  Sliirtevaiit.  Horace  Holeornb.  Benjamin  PTardy.  Joel  B. 
.Bhiuiiey.  Jason  Bruman,  Charles  Cady,  Johjisou  Hill, 
fjeonard  Averv,  Luther  B.  Ihimmond,  Charles  Stacy.  Alvin 
it.  Sulomon  Sti^ekwt.^11.    Lee    Pioiitv.    Aliram    Sherman, 


-lOS  HISTORY  (>F  Wi'.STl'onT 

Cah  in  C.  Aii;^Mor.  Vrilliain  P  W-.^st.  W.  P.  Dvui^^'lii^s.Geori'O 
Vaii.ijLian.  John  Lewis.  Jr.,  Jcilm  Stone.  James  Bartlett. 

This  your  I'lat!  P.  MalsU'ud  .->urvt>yt'(l  '"u  piavate  road 
for  William  (iiiy  fluiitLT,"  from  (.-(irnor  lot  No.  1,  Taylor 
and  Keml)le,  '"to  tlic  cleared   fields."" 

Another  road  bi-^rau  "•on  the  lake  road  south  of  the  Ore 
Ped  House,  ruiuiiu^'  fifty  links  easterly  of  the  north  point 
of  a  led;;e  of  rot-ks  there,  due  north  tii  Joseph  Orrnsbee's 
houth  line,"'  to  "an  east  and  west  road."  Abraham  Stone. 
Surveyor.  There  was  an  alteration  of  a  road  "leading' 
from  the  Con;:rc,fiationa!  mcotin;.r .  house  at  Wadham's 
Mills  to  the  road  leading  from  North  West  Bay  to  Pleasant 
Valley.'"     Joel  K.  French,  Surveyor. 

The  name  of  Abram  Sherman  among  the  pathmas- 
ters  leealls  tiie  fact  that  this  family  had  not  been  long 
iu  ^\"'cstp(•»•t.  Humphrey  Sherman,  father  of  Abram, 
was  boi-n  in  ^^'llite  Creek,  Washington  county,  in  17S0, 
and  probably  came  into  Essex  county  early  in  the  nine- 
teenth century.  His  brother  Nathan,  progenitor  of  the 
jNIoriah  Shermans  so  closely  connected  with  the  history 
of  the  ]Mt>riah  iron  mines,  was  elected  the  first  town 
clerk  of  ]Mi>ri:ih  in  ISOS.anJ  it  is  likely  that  Humphrey 
Sherman  came  into  Brookfield  at  nearly  the  same  time. 
He  married  Anno  Keynolds,  born  in  Dutchess  county, 
a  sister  of  Abraham  l\eyuolds, "the  patriarch  of  Brook- 
field."     Their  children  were  : 

1.  Morris,  married  Louise  Dunster;  children,  Ellery 
and  Carroll. 

2.  Humjihrey,  m;irried  .^b•u■y  Hardy;  chihlren,  Har- 
vey and  Hardy,  \\'alter. 

;{.  Abram,  married  Kli/.a  Smitli  ;  children,  Abram, 
Cleorge,  Frank,  Alfred,  Eliza,  Emma. 

4.     Charlotte  married  a  P(jnjerov. 
'^oT    Christiann  married  "Morrill  Gil.>bs. 


Jiisroin-  OF  \v/:sr/>/)!:T 


' '    40f) 


('}.  Titus  GL'uvL^'e,  lUiii-rioil  l\vrtlieiii;i,  d;int;htor  of 
'JMlOluas  ShfKloii  eif  Essex.  lie  \\;is  comiiiissiuli'Ml  ]•'!!- 
>i^LiU  ill  1^40,  Lit'uteiiaiit  in  lS^i>,  and  C'ai)taiu  in  iSl'j, 
oi  tho  37th  vPL^inient,  X.  Y.  8.  :\r..  Col.  .JoUv..  L.  Mei-- 
riam;  ,iOth  Ijvipjade,  Gon.  William  S.  !\[t'iiiani.  A  son 
"f  ('a])tain  Titus  Slierniaii,  Hiniry  l)l)n\^•,  nianii.^d  Sally 
]\[aria  Wliitiioy.  dan'j;1itf-r  oF  Liicin.s  "Whitm^v  of  Esse.x. 
Tlieiv  daup,litrr  Cora,  bdiii  in  Essex.  Aug.  J 5,  1809, 
inari-ipd  at  Essex,  XdV.  lo,  L^^TO,  Ilonvy  Kavnion  Noble, 
I'drn  ISGl^  sou  of  ILarnton  X(>!)leof  Essex.  Tlieii-  eliil- 
dren,  all  bofu  in  Essex,  are  ;  E  John  Harmon,  born 
Sept.  G,  LSSS.  2.  Eaura  Anne,  born  Oelober  2"),  188'.). 
:;.  KatLerine  Eutli.  Imuu  O.t.  2.  1802.  ^^Lr.  Henry 
llarnion  Xolile  li;is  bi-en  emj-loyed  in  tin-  otlife  of  tie- 
State  Historian  at  Albany  since  Sept.  4,  189.".  ;  Chief 
Clerk  since  ^Jard;  1,  1900.  .Vnotherson  of  Capt.  Titus 
Sherman  is  A.delbert,  married  Susiiu  Coll. 

There  were  other  Siiermaiis  in  \\'e.stport, living'  in  tlu^ 
south  part  of  the  town,  nnudi  earlier  than  this  family 
of  Humphry  Shermari,  Imt  1  have  not  bet'U  so  fortumUe 
as  to  tind  any  (uie  who  ct.uld  name  untt)  me  their  gen- 
erations. In  181.")  our  Stacy  brook  is  callfd  in  the  t(<wn 
records  "the  Sherman  Inook,"  dcud.ith'ss  after  a  man 
who  lived  m-ar  it,  and  afterward  wi'  find  Elijah,  Hollis 
.and  Ste|)ln'n  Sherman  named. 

Tliis  year  Arclub aid  PattistMi  earn.-  froai  ^^^lshi^gt  )n 
t'oimty  and  st.'tth'l  on  the  lake  ro  id.  on  Et^sshoro,  re- 
moving in  later  life  to  the  villag.?.  Hi>.  wif.'  was  3E.'- 
Jiitabl^  Pratt,  and  thev  had  four  sons. 

Israel  niarrietl  Eleanor  Coll,   d  iiijrhtf)-    ^>i   Jame->  \\  . 


410  [iisTi)i:y  OF  WKsrrnirr 

Coll.  Ger)rL;e  married  C.itlu'fiiio,  daui^Utei-  of  AtkIlow 
Frisbie.  Charles  married  June,  daughter  of  Col.  Sam- 
uel Root.  AVarreu  married  Hattie,  dauf^hter  of  Fred- 
erick Kitmey.  Sarah,  an  adopted  dauL^diter,  married 
Hosea  Howard. 

T!ie  "hard  cider"  camj-)aiga  of  Harris' /u  this  fall  was 
characterized  by  so  many  excesses  that  a  strong  reac- 
tion set  in  in  favor  of  the  ti'mperauce  reform  movement, 
which  from  this  time  forward  gained  steadily  in  stren;j;th. 

In  a  history  of  navigation  o)i  the  lake  published  in 
the  A'ernKDtit  Historical  3iagazine,  the  term  of  service 
of  Phiueas  Darfeu  as  steaml>oat  pilot  is  given  as  from 
18-25  to  1810,  therefore  he  probably  retired  to  his  home 
in  Westport  this  year.  He  was  one  of  the  best  pilots 
on  the  lake,  serving  with  Captains  Sherman  and  Lith- 
ro'p,  and  it  was  said  that  no  eye  was  so  keeu'as  hi.-^  in 
darkness  oi- fog.  A  st'jry  is  told  of  one  fo;.;gy  niglit 
wiien  the  regidar  i)ilot  became  l>ewildered,  and  con- 
fessed that  he  did  n'>tkuow  which  way  to  steer.  Captain 
Lathrop  knew  that  Pliin  Dnrfce  was  (ju  VK')ard,  asleep 
in  his  berth,  and  had  him  called.  Durfee  instantly  ttjok 
the  wheel,  turned  the  steanjer  half  w.-iy  around  and 
rniig  the  btdl  t(j  go  ahead  with  the  most  perfect  confi- 
dence, saying  that  they  were  only  a  little  way  out  of 
tiie  channel  near  Isle  la  Motte,  wlii(-h  jn-oved  to  l>e  the 
ca-;e.  He  died  in  the  house  oi  Jatues  A.  Allen,  and  his 
•watchers  still  remember  that  after  his  death  his  eyes 
refused  to  chjse  in  spite  of  all  tln.-ir  etlorts,  seeming  to 
the  last  still  tix>'d  in  an  etlort  in  ])ierce  that  darkness 
'■■*t?iiieh  covers  th«'.  waves  of  cttniiitv. 


jiisroKY  OF  ]\'/:srrnjrr  f/i 

SylvostiT  "ii'DUiiL^  first  came  in  ISiU.  iiis  ;tucrstiy  i-; 
im)st  iitmsunl  ;iiul  iiifevf-stiii^.  Nine  niitcli  bcdtliris 
(.•.tine  from  Holljiml  to  tlic  HmUou  river  liefore  the  J{e\- 
olutiou.  AVht'M  anmist;ik:iVile  s^i^iiis  of  the  tiiufs  imli- 
c.-ited  the  near  a[)proach  of  that  coTitlict,  th^y.  havin;^ 
no  (.Icekh'il  syiin>athies  with  either  siih'  nf  the  (jUarroh 
louioveil  into  Ca.uada,  ami  setthnl  at  Novati,  province 
of  (^iiehec,  on  Mij^sissqiioi  I*  ly.  The  fatlier  oF  Sylves- 
ter was  Jacol).  After  Sylvester  Young  came  into  town 
he  engaged  in  clearing  wood  from  tlie  land  of  "William 
(Jny  Hunter  on  North  Shore.  Iii  ISJ:^  he  married 
Kli/,a  Angier,  eldest  daughter  of  Calvin  aiul  returned 
ti.  Noyau,  P.  Q..  remaining  there  a  year,  jiving  in  Essex 
six,  and  returning  to  Westport  in  18]'.'.  Sylvester 
'^'oung  w  as  long  a  prominent  nieinber  of  tiie  (^)ngrega- 
tional  ehnrch  at  Wadham.s.  Hi>>  daughter  M.-iry  mai- 
ried  Heniy  Eastman,  and  tiieir  childien  aie  ]jizxie,now 
^Irs.  .\.<hanis,  Sylvester,  ]Mary  ami  George.  ^lis^;  'Sliiv- 
tha  Young  has  been  of  the  greatest  assi.stuuee  in  giving 
infovmatioij  about  the  families  of  Young  ami  Angier. 

Another  family  coming  iu  fiou)  Canada,  though  some- 
what previous  to  this  year,  was  that  of  Warren  Clilihs. 
His  wife  was  Abigail  C.  Morrill.  They  settled  in  tlie 
north-eastern  part  of  the  town,  in  the  neighborhood 
known  as  "Angier  Hill,"  on  the  ^'ine  place,  in  the  house 
which  w.as  burned  in  11>00.  In  the  census  taken  this 
year,  /1810.)  the  family  of  Warren  Gibb.s.  oonsi>tijig  of 
Idniself,  his  wife,  huirteen  children,  ami , an  aged  parent. 
bore  the  distinction  of  being  the  largest  in  thf^  county. 
He  ;jijtrThs  sons  wej'c  s'siilod  n:a-(»n^,  iDiA  niuidi  of    tin- 


-/2i>  HISTORY  OF  \yKsrroirr 

finest  work  in  town  was  dono   by    their   liautls.     Tlies-i 
are  the  family  names  ; 

1.  Luoy,  raari-iod  Arteinas  S.  Kartwt-ll. 

2.  Morrill,  UiarrieJ  Christiann  Siieriuan. 

3.  Hiram,  married  ^Melissa  Lock. 

4.  3lilo,  married  Mary  Estey. 

5.  Loren7,o,  married  Mary  Ann  Anf^ier. 
G.     Abigail,  ujan'ied  Orson  Bennett. 

7.  Orange,  married  M^abala  Morrill. 

S.  Emmons,  drowned  in  California  when   a  yonnjjc 
num.  .  i.ii 

9.  Jane,  married  Merlin  Angier. 

10.  Ann,  married,  1st,  S,  K.  Wells,  2ud,  Samuvl, 
Huntington  of  Burlin<i;ton. 

11.  Mary,  married  A.  J.  Howaul  of  Burlington. 

12.  Eli/.a,  marriod  B,  D.  Stevens. 

33.  !Nelson  J.,  (born  IS-IO,)  married,  1st,  Theresa 
Clark;  2nd,  Jennie  Bichards. 

(Oua  child  died  as  an  infant,  makinf^  tbtv  fnll  r<uml>^r 
foartceii.) 

1841. 

To^^•n  >b:'etff(ir  held  ut  the  Ina  o.^  H.  J.  IVi-soo^ 

Joseph  R.  Delano,  Supervisor. 

Dau  (.1.  Koui,  Clerk. 

Joel  Iv.  t'rench,  J  iistiee. 

Heurv  Stone.  Collector. 

Alaus(Ui  BuYbcr,  Aaron  R.  Mw-k,  Wilbum  naH.  As.ses^ 
.s<>rs. 

Jas(»u  r.rainan.  Samuel  S-torrs,  Jainos.  \V.  Coll,  Iloini 
CominissioutM's. 

C.  P.  Cadv.  Sainuel  Root,  0..  S.  .\lebe<-d,  S^-hooj  Comr.nU- 
sioii.'rs. 


j//sTo/:y  or  wr.srroirr      '■■,.  .  4i3 

A.  M.  OlJs,  John  H.  Low,  Evander  W.  Kaunov.  Schoul 
Juspcclors. 

JoLu  Giroloy.  Jr..  and  Albert  P.  Cole.  Poor  Masters. 

Ha.rry  X.  Colo,  .Tohn  Look.  Henry  Stoue.  Constables. 

William  Mchityre, '.Scaler  o-f  Wei.irhts  and  Measures. 

I'athrnasters.  — Josepli  i5ii,'eio\v.  .\l]>hei!s  Stone,  A.  Pat- 
liM.n.  lU/.-kiah  Barber.  Caleb  P.  Cole.  Wiliiam  J.  Cuttin^r, 
William  Melnivrr.  John  .MitL-hell.  Williani  <;.  Hunter. 
Lutbi-i-  An^rier.Vieor^'e  W.  Sturtcvaiit.  \V.  L.  Wadbams. 
Kdvvard  CoUniru.  Eiijab  Wrii^'bt.  (ieurge  Skinner.  Willard 
llartwell.  Justus  TJarriss.  Henry  Drapei-,  Plutt.  Sbeldon. 
Tbarles  U.  Stiiev".  Tbomas  B.  Lock.  Rufiis  Parr,  Giles 
>,!;urtlitf.  Moses'FeU,  Morrill  Gibbs.  W.  C.  West.  Peubeii 
Bi'owa.  Erasliis  Lovoland.  John  Ferris.  Samuel  A ndersion. 
Jt-babod  Hartlett. 

^'oted  that  fifty  dollars  t)e  rai-^ed  for  mat.  or  Town  Plot, 

Now  we  come  to  sonietbing  trnly  interestii-.g— Wet^t- 
]H:rj-t's  first  uewspnper.  The  first  number  was  publi-shed 
Au,i;nst  4,  1841,  by  Ansoii  H.  Alleii,^  south  of  H.  J. 
Person's  hotel,"  ami  its  name  was  "Th>-  Kyxc.r  (r>in,t;i 
'riiiii'x  n„il  ll'rs/i^orf  Iltrolfi:'  Tlie  first  part  of  the 
iiaiae  seems  to  be  a  perpetiiatioi  <>f  that  of  (he  Ehza- 
liethtown  paper  published  for  a  short  time  by  R.  W. 
LiviuLjston,  but  the  second  part  is  all  oar  own.     It  was 

•Anson  If  Allen  was  born  in  Palatine,  N'.  Y  in  iSo6f,  lenrned  the  prlntei's  trad« 
■in  MidJlcUurv,  V't.,  and  v-'asin  tiit:  HeralJ  oibcK  in  Kecsevilie  in  18^7.  In  iS4i  Ue 
•took  the -cen-SiUS  ct  Essex  <onntv,  a n<i  so,nc  erperierce  of  iii<  in  tne  wild  hici 
•country  ga'.  e  ri>e  to  t^e  popular  <ioy:<<-erel  exiled  ''A!lc:i'.-  Be?r  Fii;ht.."  t\;-o  !;nes 
of  uhlch  axe. — 

'•O  Ciod  he  c-lfd  'n  de-  p  dei-p  li^, 
{£  voudnn't  help  me.  don't  help  Ci.e  hear  ."* 
from  iN^i  t  . '*»  I  he  puhlished  the  Esuex  Cptiate  Tiiie-f  in  \Vf=tf.>rt;  aK'crward 
la  Keev;e%ilic  and  Saratoga,  he  puhlisht^i  a  in 'nthlv  rolled  "-The  (.>IJ  SrtiUr," 
■ilevored  to  e.arlv  stories  of  this  rejfion,  of  v.-lMch  i'  ie  a  pitv  tha;t;  so  fcA-  now  re- 
main. W'ht-n  t».e  Kiinter  hoiis«  was  burned,  cne  lus^  which  Mrs  tfuntcr  decpiv 
iainrnted  ».MS  that  ot  h.a.-reU  of  o;il  papers,  with  a   coiKplt.t<;    file    of   Allen's    "Oi'>/ 

Although  no  name  hut  ihst  of  Anson  H.  Allen  i*  given  upon  the  paper,  wc 
inov/  that  r^aifc^  Turner  wis  associated  with  him  fii>.-.i  the  lirst,  fro::i  the  ia-rter's 
J-  ;i  ,,tutc-i:'e:'t  -n  j  l>.r;-r  nu:)i,'^bed  .in  ll'c  [^.lir^letruozLit  Po.-/  a  .few    vr;jrs   helorp 


n-t  msTonr  of  \vi:sTro!tT 

a  very  respectable  four-p.iLi;e  sl}eet,  t\s  ma}-  be  seen  by 
the  four  or  five  copies  which  iiave  uot  gone  long  ago  to 
kindle  tires.  There  have  been  preservetl,  and  arc  now 
in  Westport,  four  copies,  from  tlie  years  lS41-4:2-43 
and  ISli,  an.l  the  writer  has  examined  another  printed 
in  1813,  owned  by  >[r.  Henry  McLauglilin  of  Moriaii. 
The  earliest  number  still  })reserved  is  dated  Wednes- 
day, Oct.  i:;,  isii. 

The  literary  portion,  made  up  of  selected  articles,  the 
foreign  news,  brought  across  the  ocean  on  the  steam - 
shi}>  Ai-oiHn,  and  the  notes  of  national  events,  as  the 
(•o]]cludiug  scenes  of  tb.e  "Patriot  War"'  in  Canada,  are 
not  so  interesting  as  the  home  advertisements,  ^^'o 
notice  in  the  Democratic  nominations  tbename  of  James 
Walker  Eddy  for  Coroner.  The  editor  is  indebted  to 
Capt.  E.  W.  Sherman  of  the  steamer  UnrHixjict  for  late 
copies  of  lioston,  Xew  York  and  Montreal  papers. 
We  find  "ads"  of  tive  dit;"ereiit  business  tirms  in  the 
village  of  Westport.  William  and  Cyrus  Pilchards 
•'would  most  resjiectfally  inform  the  public  and  th^:ir 
friends  that  the}'  still  continue  in  business  at  their   t)ld 


his  death:  "In  iS4i  I  left  Keeseville  for  Westport  to  assist  Anson  H  AHen  in  tlic 
pubUcalion  of  thiit  illublrious  iiterary  prodaction,  T/ik  WesCfort  Timet.  Mere  I 
remain  eight  ye-irs,  then  rtinoveil  family  and  prinlmjj  oflioe  to  the  county  st.it." 
David  Turner  was  born  in  Hull,  Knghmd,  in  iSio,  and  f.rst  cause  into  Essex  county 
in  ''^.57t  working  in  the  printing  o.fice  at  SCceseviilf.  Frojn  i"^4i  to  1S49,  as  he 
>ays,  he  liveil  in  Westport,  thi.Ti  in  Eliiabethtown  for  ten  years  or  more,  inovin;^ 
about  1^0  to  Washington,  where  he  died  in  1900.  rSe  had  an  especial  fon(lnes«; 
lor  the  history  .md  t'lie  Irjjends  cf  Essex  c'.intv,  often  writing;  articles  upon  such 
topics  for  the  local  oress.  His  wife  w.is  Klv.a  1.  Ciincron,  of  Scotch  descent.  His 
son,  Ross  Sterlinir  Turner,  thff  Bo<-tor  artist,  -vas  b  >rn  in  Westport  June  27,  \^.\~. 
Three  <itlier  scn*^  are  Byron  Po.od  Inrncr,  of  the  Civil  Service  Commission  at 
Vl^^.hu'.^r..   „.  J  ,v.,et  C.  T  .rnf r  .  (  C  •  -.ei-mu,  .ind    L-.j.-  .M.  Turner  nf  New  Vcri;. 


Ill  STORY  or  wr.sri'oirr  -/ir, 

stanJ,  tlu-  D()U^i;l;iss«tcu-f."  They  keep  on  liainl  '"a  i^,.']\- 
oral  assoitiiiont  of  Dry  (roods,  Grocciics.  Cvocl<t^ry, 
H;ir(hv;n-e,  Oils,  i^unts,  Af.'"  WiUi.-nn  J.  AFianklii- 
11.  Ciittiiju-  auuouiicp  thai  they  "will  ]u'ie.il't*r  sell  njicii 
the  C'-is'i  and  Short  Cifdit  System,  a.nd  !ia\-n  tixcl  ui.on 
tlie  followiun;  prices,"  whicli  are  chiell\  iMtt'restiii;^  from 
tlie  fact  tliat  they  are  ex  [tressed  lu  shilliiii^s  and  pence, 
as  t\vo^philliuj;s  and  sixptmee  a  gallcii  hn-  molassos. 
They  also  offer  cash  for  "suiooth,  flat  ami  s(jii;ire  r>ar 
Iron."  Hfirvey  Pierce  "feels  grateful  for  ])ast  favors, 
;ii)d  for  so  liberal  a  sliari^  of  the  ])nl>lic  patrona^'e,  and 
w(Mdd  inform  tin-  citizens  of  AVest[>ort  and  it-^  vicinity 
that  he  k^eps  constantly  on  hand  a  i^tMieral  assortnn'tit  of 
Choice  Goods,  wliich  he  will  sell  a  little  Cheaper  than 
his  neigliboi-.-?  !"  Eddy  A:  Kent  "are  constantly  receiv- 
inj^  a  generid  assortn)ent  of  ]''ancv  A'  Staple  Cioods," 
anion;.;-  which  are  stone  clinrns  and  "sad  irons, "aiid  will 
take  "all  kinds  of  crmntry  produce  at  the  hi,i:;liest  pri- 
ces." Anofher  tirn],  Keiit  A'  Felt,  "continue  to  carry  on 
the  Hatting  Viusiness  at  tlieir  old  stand  near  tlie  Bridge, 
and  keep  on  liand  a  gocnl  assortment  of  well-made  Hats, 
of  the  latest  Fashion,  which  they  would  like  to  t-\:change 
for  Sheep  Pelts,  Sheared  and  Pulled  Famb's  Wool, 
Hatting  and  Shijiping  Furs,  and  most  kinds  of  Pro- 
duce." All  show  the  prevalence  of  barter  in  trade,  and 
the  Very  editor  liimself  adv(M"tiscs  patent  nieilicines  for 
sale! 

At  Wadhams  Mills,  If.  A  J.  I^)raman  have  a  good  se- 
lection of  ])ry  (ioi-ids  for  the  country  trade,  and  a  g(»od 
.•iSM.rtment    of    Straw    l/.onnets,   of  djjh-r'iit    (jualitic.-,  ; 


4jf:  msTi'un'  OF  wi'sTi'or.T 

als(^,  Vai'i. 'jilted  Cotey  Hats  iukI  Hoods,"  wliirh  show-; 
that  ill  thos.>  days  the  women  wo\x-  uot  [jroviiled  with  a 
niilliiier  to  sell  thcin  heail-gear,  bat  went  ti>  the  goneial 
store  and  asked  to  seo  the  tinery  that  the  sto^e-kee^)^'r 
brou<;ht  home  with  him  the  List  time  he  went  south. 
It  would  seeni  tliat  Wadhams  w  as  then  the  centre  eif 
fusliion,  for  one  ^[ic-hael  O'Sullivan  deelares  that  he  can 
do  Tailoring  and  Cr.tting  "on  the  shortest  notice  aiid  in 
the  most  satisfactory  manner," 

Tliat  CJjarles  B.  Hatch  was  then  Postmaster  is  shown 
by  a  long  list  of  unclaimed  letters  then  lying  in  the  post 
ofHee— a  list  longer  than  it  would  have  been  if  postage 
had  not  been  so  higij  aiul  chargeable  to  the  re^cipi^-nt 
of  the  letter.  Danit-l  Pvowley  advertises  that  he  Las 
lost  a  small  bay  mare,  strayed  from  the  enclosure  of 
V\'illiam  Olds,  and  Frederick  B.  Howard  that  he  has  :•, 
quantity  of  farm  property  for  sale,  ''clnap  for  Cash,  'n 
at  from  six  to  twelve  uu)nths  for  good  eiidorsed  ]>ap<.'r 
])ayable  at  a  southern  bank.  Tht-  pi'rch'i.srr's  ^i/cs  /«<  /'/-- 
I'is  cliiiji.''  ])aui(d  M'Eaehron  says  tl)at  live  spring 
calves  have  strayed  into  his  pasture  in  the  north  parr 
of  the  town.  There  is  an  Administrator's  Notice  of  tin- 
estate  of  Le\i  Frisbie,  deceased,  signed  by  Sally  I'ris- 
bie,\VilLird  Fri.bie  and  Aaron  B.  :\bick. 

The  nnist  delightful  pictni-e  is  suggested  In-  the  "ad" 
which  sets  forth  the  advantages  of  the  I'\nrv  from  West- 
port  to  Basin  Harbor,  "th.-  suj.erior  H(nse-B.)at 
EACi]A],  Cajit.  Asahtd  Havens,"  whitdi  has  been  run- 
ning three  trips  a  day,  starting  out  at  7  A.  M.,  10  \.  m. 
and  •■;   1'.  3!.,   but,  v.il!  from  t!u.'    blth  of  Srptemb.a-  nuiL-: 


iiLSToRY  or  wKsrroirr  -m 

but  two  trip.-^.  "The  pecnli;ir  sitantiou  (jf  this  J^oii'v, 
in-otectpJ  as  it  is  by  inouutains,  reiulevs  classing  saffS 
aud  iwtaid,  cvtMi  iu  the  must  l.ioistcrous  times.'"  SigueJ 
l)y  C.  B.  Hatch  and  A.  Havens.  These  liorseboats 
\vere  commou  on  the  Hndsoi),  aud  were  propelled  by 
side  wheels,  worked  by  a  kind  of  troadn)ill  in  which 
two  horses  stood,  continually  walking  nowhere,  like  the 
liorse-poweis  which  aie  now  senji  in  connection  with 
our" threshing  machines. 

It  was  in  November,  the  10th,  in  a  gale  of  wind,  that 
the  steam  tug  MrDoHdnijlt  was  wrecked  in  Button  I3ay. 
A  canal  boat  had  broken  loose  from  the  tou-,  and  in  the 
endeavor  to  jiick  her  up  the  MrPo/imn/Jt.  ran  ou  the  reef 
and  nevei-  tlo;itfd  again.  The  engine  was  taken  out  and 
the  hull  abandoned  where  it  lay.  It  is  a  little  remark- 
able that  the  oidy  two  wrecks  in  the  history  of  naviga- 
tion on  Like  Chainplaiu  (so  far  as  I  know;  which  were 
caused  by  stean^ers  running  agn^nnd  occurred  within 
sight  of.  Westport,~the  McDomnn/h  in  IS  11  and  t!ie 
('la'nijilaiii  in  1S75. 

The  oldest  surviving  book  of  the  reconls  of  the  Con- 
gregational church  at  AVadhams  begins  with  the  date 
Oct.  8,  1811,  and  ends  Oct.  IG,  18G1.  One  of  the  first 
•Mitilt^s  is  that  <_if  the  sacrament  ailministered  by  the 
Rev.  Cyrus  Comstock,  to  whose  labors,  liftt'.ni  ^•ears  be- 
fore, the  existence  of  the  church  was  mainly  due.  This 
year  the  pastcu'  was  the  Rev.  Charles  Spooner,  who  re- 
mained thirteen  years.  Tiie  deacons  were  Gecjrge  W. 
Sturtevant  and  William  L.  Wadhams,  and  the  church 
oli.-rk,  WiUiatn    L.    Wadhams.      ]>eacou    Wadh;ims    was 


4JS  HISTORY  OF  WKSTroUT 

churcli  cleik  coutiuuonsly  until  1S()1,  with  tli-^-  oxco])- 
tiou  of  t?\-o  or  thrco  years  spent  in  Califorhiii.  Tlio 
first  babies  whose  baptisms  are  recorded  in  this  book 
are  George  Harvey,  sou  of  Levi  and  EHsa  Pierce,  and 
Mary  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  John  Pi.  and  Elmitia  ^Vhit- 
ney.  The  memborship  at  this  time  was  one  hundred 
and  twenty- two. 

Tow  u  Meetiug  at  H.  J.  Persons. 

William  Guy  Hunter,  Sujxjrvisor. 

Harvey  Pit-rce,  Clerk. 

Diodorus  Holcomb,  Justice. 

Newton  Hays,  Colleclov. 

Piatt  R.  Halstead,  Calviu  An<,Mer.  Alexander  Stovenson. 
Assessors. 

HezeKiab  Barber.  Abram  E.  Wadhains,  William  Rich- 
ards, Road  Commissioners. 

William  VanVleck.  Miles  M'F.  Sawyer,  William  L. 
Wad  bams.  School  Commissioner. 

Orson  Ke]lo;Lj;,'  and  Asahel  Lyon.  School  Inspectors. 

Tillinghast  Cojc  and  Horace  Holcumb.  Poor  Masters. 

Newton  Hays.  Jared  Goodell.  James  Peets.  Henry  Stone. 
Constables. 

Horace  Barnes.  Sealer  of  Weights  and  Measures. 

Patbmasters.  —  A[;ollos  Williams,  Otis  Sheldon,  Samuel 
Root.  Andrew  Frisbie.  Lorrin  Cole,  Aaron  B.  Mack.  Cy- 
rus Richards.  Horace  Barnes,  James  Marshall.  Elijah 
Aufjier,  George  \K.  Sturtevant,  George  Kilmure.  Stephen 
Sayre,  Augustus  Hill.  David  R.  Woodruft,  Charles  T.  Cady, 
Epbraim  J.  Bull.  Alan  Slaughter,  Leonard  Avery.  Daniel 
M.  Fhuvard.  Dennis  Slaey.  Frederick  T.  Howard.  Ezekiel 
Pangbonru,  Julius  Ferris.  3h)ses  Felt.  Calvin  C.  Augier. 
Orrin  Skinner.  B.  P.  Douglass.  Lester  Wallace.  J(>sei)h 
Duutley.  Jtihn  Stone.  Ichabod  Bartlett. 

Voted  U)  raise  ten  dollars  to  refund  to  Asabel  Havens 
f(>r  counterieit  money  taken  by  him  as  school  eommissioner. 

This  is  a  pertinent  example  of  the  injury  and  incon- 
venience sntiered  by  the  people  from  counterfeit  nioney 


i/iSTO/n'  OF  WKsrroirr  nu 

and  notes  fvoiii  iinsoujul  bunks.  I'rom  ISoG  to  ISti'J 
there  \vore  no  l>auks  but  State  banks,  and  the  laws, 
especially  in  the  earlier  ]iart  of  this  period,  were  inade- 
(.[uate  to  prevent  adventurers  from  pretending  to  estaVj- 
lisli  bard\S,  and  putting  in  circulation  notes  which  were 
entirely  worthless.  Xi)  wonder  the  ]jeoph'  ju'eferred  to 
barter  in  iron  and  farm  produce. 

Now  w>3  have  another  of  our  stories  of  ad\enture  on 
the  lake.  If  you  seek  for  the  ron)ance  of  our  history, 
you  will  ever  '^\\m\  it  upon  the  water.  Talk  with  one  of 
our  old  boattjien — there  are  no  young  ones,  and  soon 
there  will  be  no  old  ones  either — and  see  their  love  for 
a  sailor's  life,  just  the  same  fervor  found  iu  an  ''old?,alt'' 
of  tiie  s^-a  shoie,  even  th.jugh  our  wateis  are  fresh  and 
land  always  in  sight.  "1  liked  it  better  th.m  1  did  to 
eat,"  said  Mr.  James  A.  Allen  to  me,  telling  me  of  the 
twent3'-two  years  which  he  sailed  the  lake,  as  man  and 
boy,  in  the  years,  from  1832  to  1854,  when  you  might 
see  fifteen  or  twenty  sail  in  the  bay  at  any  time.  And 
then  he  told  me  a  story  of  one  of  his  tii'st  trips  in  his 
own  boat,  when  he  was  twenty- three  years  old.  He 
started  out  from  St.  John's  with  his  cargo,  bound  for 
New  York,  and  carrying  in  his  cabin  a  box  containing 
five  hundred  Mexican  dollars.  His  employers  liked 
tht.'ir  niou'-'V  in  Mexican  dollars,  u]'on  which  thev  ob- 
t.-iined  a  prt-miunj  in  New  York.  ]ialidi  Lovcland,  a 
young  man  of  iiis  own  age,  was  sailing  his  own  boat 
too,  as  his  father  had  done  for  year.s,  the  children  grow- 
ing up  half  on  ship-board,  anil  knowing  the  lake  as  you 

ku-w  your  own    back  yiud.       "One   smutty   night"    as 
f 


420  jfjSTO/n'  or  WKSTPO/rr 

Mr.  Alien  said,  bo  ran  ashore  on  Scliu}lcr's  island,  and 
Loveland  ran  out  from  ]5ni'lini;ton  and  liolj^ed  biui  oil', 
lightening  his  hoat  l,»y  taking  on  his  dock  load.  Then 
she  floated  again  and  they  sailed  away,  getting  into 
Northwest  Bay  before  morning,  and  when  the  suii  rose 
they  were  tied  up  safe  and  sound  at  Ilateirs  wharf,  and 
had  turned  in  for  a  wink  of  slec^p.  Waking,  they  l)e- 
gan  transfrriing  the  deck  loail  from  liovelaud's  boat  tc 
Allen's  again,  and  while  busily  at  work  looked  up  to  the 
top  of  the  hill  and  saw  all  the  yillage  people  passing  by, 
dressed  in  their  Sunday  garb.  Then  it  burst  upon  then) 
that  it  was  Sunday  morning,  a  fact  that  their  liight  of 
toil  and  jieril  had  driven  from  their  niinds,  and  that 
they  were  "breaking  coyenant  obligations"  bs  perform- 
ing unnecessary  labor  upon  the  Sabbath.  As  Loyeland 
was  then  a  faithful  member  of  tlie  Baptist  church,  and 
Allen  afterward  a  pillar  iu  the  same,  they  took  the  sit- 
uation seriously,  and  hastened  to  set  themselves  right 
in  the  eyes  of  the  comtnnnit}'. 

It  is  true  that  iu  those  days  the  churches  were  ex- 
tremely watchful  iu  regard  to  the  daily  conduct  of  their 
members.  It  was  the  time  of  numerous  "church  trials" 
for  offeuces  ranging  iu  tnaguitude  from  a  prolonged 
al)seuce  from  the  Sunday  services  to  profanit}-,  lying 
and  drunh'enness.  These  were  in  no  sense  "heresy  tri- 
als," and  the  church  never  properly  claimed  jurisdic- 
tion over  otlences  against  the  common  law,  but  it  was 
eousidered  a  plaiu  though  paiuful  duty  to  take  action 
upon  every  suspicion  of  unchri^tiall  conduct  or  incon- 
sistency.     It  will  not  requiri;   njuch   rellti-tiou  to   eon- 


ii]STni:y  OF  w/:sT/'ojrr  -iji 

vinco  iiny  pt^rsoD  with  a  nioilerate  kiiowledgo  of  liuuian 
nature  that  the  strict  oiiforceiueut  of  tlii.s  piincii^hi 
often  Ict^l  to  most  unholy  warfare,  to  ilie  perplexity  a}iil 
despair  of  well-meaning  and  conscientious  })eople. 
Another  gentn-ation  has  learned  nioie  wisdom,  and  the 
ancient  chr.reh  trials  a.re  thin;^s  of  the  past.  They  make 
tedious  and  profitless  reading,  with  sometimes  a  reve- 
lation ot  situations  unspeakably  humorous.  Yov  in- 
stance, one  of  the  Baptist  deacons  was  so  unfortunate 
as  to'lind  great  dilTicult}'  in  living  in  peace  with  his 
wife.  Now  we  leave  it  to  any  married  man  if  this  was 
not  a  disj^ensation  sulliciently  afflictive  in  itself,  without 
having  a  solemn  ciiui'ch  coinmittee  of  threoorfi\e  long- 
faced  l>!-ethren  tjling  in  at  his  front  door  with  the  in- 
tention of  inquiring  into  the  particulars.  "We  of  this 
generation  should  give  thanks  that,  among  other  bles- 
sings, tlie  New  England  conscience  has  become  amel- 
iorated l)_y  the  development  of  a  keen  and  wholesome 
sense  of  humor.  One  word  in  our  vernacular  to  1 
am  inclined  to  ti'ace  directly  to  this  p(!riod.  Any  pcr- 
soil  who  had  been  obliged  to  undergo  the  examination 
of  the  church  in  regard  to  his  or  her  conduct  in  any 
nnitter  was  said  to  have  been  "church-mauled."  It  will 
be  perceived  that  the  veiw  formation  of  the  compound 
word  betrays  a  symi>athy  with  the  su]>posed  oii'ender 
and  a  turning  of  [)opular  o})iniou  against  the  church 
tribunal. 

This  summer  there  was  a  can)p-meeting  at  Barber's 
Point,  in  the  woods  near  the  lake,  and  again  in  two 
yars  it  was  ji.dd  iu  the  same  [)hu''\     Tlii^  w;is  as  con- 


■JJ-2  IllSTOnV  OF  W  i:  ST  I 'OUT 

veiiiout  and  accessible  a  spot  as  ci'nli]  l-o  fDund.  since- 
preachers  aud  pc-ojile  always  came  from  tlio  ^'ermf)nt 
sbore  as  well  as  frora  this  side  of  the  lake,  and  th-^ 
ferry  boat  was  in  great  demand.  The  line  steamer  also 
stopped  at  the  Point  repjularly  for  several  years  after 
this. 

The  threat  Euj^dish  novelist,  Charles  Dickens,  visited 
America  this  year,  aud  recorded  liis  impressions  of  tlio 
country  in  "American  Notes."  His  ])assagc  throuj^li 
Ijak"e  Cham))lain  is  thus  touched  upon. 

"There  is  one  American  boat — the  vessel  which  car- 
ried us  on  Lake  Cham  plain,  from  St.  John's  to  White- 
hall— which  I  praise  v(>ry  highly,  bat  no  more  than  it 
deserves,  when  I  say  that  it  is  superior  even  to  that  in 
which  we  went  from  Queenston  to  Toronto,  or  to  that 
in  which  we  travelled  from  the  latter  place  to  Kings- 
ton, or  I  have  no  doubt  I  may  add,  to  any  other  in  the 
world.  Tills  sttiaraboat,  whicli  is  called  the  Iiiirlinr/f'))i, 
is  a  perfectly  exquisite  achievement  of  neatness,  ele- 
gance, and  order.  The  decks  are  drawing-rooms  ;  the 
cabii^s  are  boudoirs,  choicely  furnished  and  adorned 
with  prints,  pictures  and  musical  instruments  ;  every 
nook  and  corner  in  the  vessel  is  ;i  jjcrfect  curiosity  of 
graceful  comfort  and  beautiful  contrivance.  Ca])tain 
Sherman,  her  commander,  to  whose  ingeiiuity  and  ex- 
cellent taste  these  results  are  solely  attributal)le,  has 
bravely  and  worthily  distinguished  himself  on  more 
than  one  trying  occasion  ;  not  least  anjong  them,  in 
having  the  moral  ctiurage  to  carry  Bi-itish  troops,  at  a 
time   iduring   t!ic    Canadian    r<.'beliioui    wln.-n   no  otlicr 


HISTORY  OF  wKsrrnin'  423 

couvcviinco  was  open  to  thfin.  ITo  and  his  vessel  are 
held  iu  universal  respect,  both  by  ids  own  couutrynieu 
and  ours  ;  and  no  man  ever  enjoyed  the  popular  esteem, 
who,  in  his  sjdiere  of  action,  won  and  wore  it  better 
than  this  p;entleuian.  -h-  ^^  *  By  means  of  this  Hoat- 
ing  palace  we  were  soon  iu  the  United  States  again, 
and  called  that  evening  at  Burlington  ;  a  pretty  town, 
where  we  lay  an  hour  or  so.  "We  re;iched  Whitehall, 
where  we  were  to  disembark,  at  six  next  morning  ;  and 
might^have  done  so  earlier,  but  that  these  steamboats 
lie  for  some  hours  in  the  night,  in  consequeuce  of  the 
lake  bi-oouiing  very  narrow  at  that  ]iart  of  the  jour- 
ney, and  dithcult  of  navigation  iu  the  da)k.  Its  width 
is  so  contracted  at  one  point,  indeed,  that  they  are 
obliged  to  warp  round  by  means  of  a  rope.  ^  ^  * 
After  bieakfasting  at  Whitehall  we  took  the  stagecoach 
for  Albany,  a  large  and  busy  town,  v^here  we  arrived 
between  five  and:  six  o'clock  that  afternoon." 

We  have  a  copy  oi  the  Essex  C(junty  Times  for.  Oct. 
5,  1842.  On  the  editorial  page  we  find  au  account  of  a 
Democratic  convention  which  met  at  Elizabethtowu 
Sept.  28,  iu  preparation  for  the  coming  election.  Van 
Buren,  Democratic,  had  just  goue  out,  and  William 
Henry  Harrison,  Whig,  was  now  in.  The  delegates 
from  Wfstport  were  Ausou  H.  Allen,  Harry  J.  Person, 
Orson  ]Cellogg,  Miles  MT.  Sawyer,  Piatt  P.  Halstead, 
Frederick  B.  Howard  and  Alpheas  Stone.  The  dele- 
gate to  the  CNnigrossional  Couveution  was  Piatt  K.  Hal- 
stead. 

Tlie    rt -^'diitious    of    the    Eli/abethti)'.vn    convention. 


'/!>-/  iiisruRY  OF  WEsri'oirr 

ilrafttM.l  1)j  JL)n.  A.  C.  Huud,  r.ve,  exprcssi\e  of  tlie  ])f)- 
liliciil  sitiiiition.  'rho7e  is  coijclemiiation  ol"  "all  r.l- 
tempts  to  sell  Unele  Sam's  wooil  lot  to  the  Dutch,  Eng- 
lish or  eTews,"  a  refcreuce  to  "the  short  and  confused 
ascendency  of  Whi^ism,"  and  a  pio|diccy  "llial  we  shall 
be  troubledno  more  with  Datdcism,  hard  cider  and  coons 
for  the  next  quarter  of  a  century."  "The  Whig  partv 
have  been  weighed  in  the  balance  and  f(.)unLl  wantin;^^ 
The  people  are  saying  to  them,  'who  deceives  ns  once, 
'tis  his  fault ;  if  he  deceive  me  twice,  'tis  minr-.'  "  Our 
town  committee  appointed  was  Piatt  11.  Halstead, 
Harry  J.  Person,  James  W.  Eddy. 

We  are  informed  that  the  Westport  Young  People's 
Temperance  Society  will  hold  a  meeting  this  evening 
in  the  Methodist  church,  and  there  will  be  an  address 
by  William  Aiken,  I^squire.  Also  that  the  next  Quar- 
to-ly  meeting  of  the  Essex  Couiity  Tem[)erance  Societv 
will  be  held  in  the  Congregational  church  at  Tjewis,  in 
October,  and  that  Orson  Kellogg  is  the  secretarv.  The 
Eastern  Xew  York  Anti-Slavery  Society  will  hold  a 
convention  for  the  county  of  Essex  at  East  Moriah,  Oc- 
tober 13  and  14.  Addresses  by  Pllder  Abel  Erown  of 
Albany  and  Elder  I).  W.  Burroughs. 

Charles  E.  Hatcli  is  still  postmaster,  and  he  gives  a 
list  of  ahout  twenty  lett;^rs  lying  unclai(U3  I.  Tin  od- 
de.st  among  these  names  is  that  of  Dovalthy  Hickok, 
and  we  notice  an  Antoine  which  sliows  that  l)efore  this 
time  the  French  Canailian  names  had  come  to  be  known 
in  the  village. 

Harvey   Pi.-rce  "has  just   returned    from    Nvw    York 


n/sm/n'  or  ]vi:sti'oiit        r    4-jj 

\\\i\\  {\  splendid  assortment-  of  Fall  Croods.  IjUick, 
J'lue-Black.  Invisible  Green  and  Brown  Broad-clotlis, 
Sattinetts,  Cassiroeres,  Pilot  Cloths,  Yestin-^s,  Alpaeca 
C'loths,  Bombazines  and  Silks.  Heavj-  ^^took  of  Gro- 
cerit-.s.  Liquors  Excepted." 

Ivent  and  Felt  ads'ertise  the  Hattinj^Bu-^iness  cxactly 
as  befora,  and  Eddy  and  Kent  will  sell  Bonnet  Silks, 
iiibbous,  Flower.-s,  and  also  Cauldron  Ketth^.s,  but  in 
••mother  cnhinin  we  .-ire  warned  of  the  dissolution  of  thu 
thin  of  James  W.  Eddy  and  Dan  H.  Kent,  Aut;.  30, 
Isl'2.  The  Cuttint^s  and  the  liichardses  advertise  as 
liefore,  and  John  H.  Low  aniiounces  "lliat  he  is  determ- 
ined not  to  l>e  undersold  by  any  one,  at  his  store  two 
iloors  south  of  H.  J.  Person's  Hotel."  ]Iiid<ley  Coll 
fui-nishes  Lime  at  his  Lime  Kiln  in  the  .south  part  of 
the  town.  "Notes  of  most  of  the  suspended  Safety 
Fnud  and  Bed  Back  Bank  Xotes  bought  by  William  J. 
Cuttiu;^^"  Inquire  of  Barnabas  ^Myrick  if  you  wish  to 
!"uy  the  fariu  of  James  Marshall  on  the  road  to  Essex. 
Heo.  B.  Beynolds  is  agent  for  E.  Jewftt  oi  Yeri,'enries 
for  receivinj^f  Wool  to  ('aril  or  Manufacture.  s.jQ  Be- 
ward  will  be  ^iven  for  iuformation  which  will  insure 
conviction  of  persons  who  have  committed  various  tres- 
I'lsses  iu  the  yard  and  >^rounvls  now  occuoii'd  bv  Sew- 
all  Cuttin<i;.  (This  was  the  old  Dr.  llolcomb  place,  at 
the  forks  of  the  road,  the  jilace  now  occupied  by  Joseph 
j.ord.) 

Abiathar  Polhtrd  is  about  leaving  town,  and  "would 
inform  the  iidial)itaut.s  of  Keeseville  that  he  will  hold 
.bims.df  in  r.'i!dib''>s  j>roa'pt]y  to  utteu  1  all  who,    in    af- 


426  III  STORY  OF   WKSri'OirP 

ilictive  Providouce,  uia}  icquii-e  liis  aid."  Aiul  ther-.- 
is  au  EKeeutor's  Nolieo  for  the  estate  of  John  Chaudler, 
deceased. 

It  was  in  the  suiniDcr  (»f  1842  that  Francis  Parktnau, 
tlie  r;reat  liistoriaa,  made  his  first  trip  tlirough  Lake 
George  and  Lake  Chaniplain,  aceoinpauied  by  Henry 
Orue  White,  exanjiniug  the  scenes  of  the  events  of  the 
earl}'  viurs  of  America,  and  obtaining  that  thorough 
kuowledge  of  the  country  which  is  so  evident  iu  all  liis 
works  upon  the  history  of  this  region.  The  next 
year  he  went  again  this  way  to  Canada,  collecting  his- 
torical uiaterial  at  Quebec  and  other  places,  and  passed 
through  on  a  siinihir  journey  once  niore  in  1877.  When 
the  Westport  Library  \vii<  opened,  in  ISSS,  he  presented 
it-with  a  complete  set  of  his  historical  works,  which  now 
stands  upon  the  shelves,  one  of  the  most  valued  posses- 
sions of  the  Library.  Kis  interest  in  this  Jnstitntii)n 
had  been  awakened  by  an  ;iccouut  given  him  by  ^Irs. 
F.  L.  Lee  of  its  histor\-  and  its  needs. 

1843. 

Town  Meetin<^  held  at  the  lun  of  FI.  J.  IVrsons. 

William  Ouv  Hunter.  Suftervisor. 

Cyrus  W.  Richards.  ClerK. 

Anson  [I.  Alien  and  Miles  3]  F.  Siiwyer,  Justices. 

Betjajuli  P.  Douijjlass.  Colle^'lor. 

E.  H.  Coll.  Luther  An^ier,  Asabel  r>voD,  Asses.sors. 

Alviu  Bui-t.  Lorrin  Cole.  Elijah  An;.nL'r,  Road  Commis- 
sioners. 

•  Ira     t-ifnilersou,     WlUidui    1^.    Wudhams,     ^^'illiam    \'.iu 
Vlei.k,  Sebool  CDmmissiuncr.-^. 

WilTuun  llii^bv  and  Orson  I\ello<,'(r.  School  Inspectors. 

Tillin^hast  Coie  and  Hmimco  LloU.-uial.,  Poor  AUusters. 


K 


jiisrom'  OF  WF.srroirr  427 

l{;irnal)as  Myrick.  Alcxiindcr  St'.'voiison.  Alans(in  ilar- 
b(M-.  Inspectors  of  Election. 

i>.  y.  Doutjhiss.  Erastus  Lovelaiid.  Jarod  Guoclalf.  Jumcs 
l\'(^ts.  iloiMce  Earnes,  Constablos. 

William  Van  Vleck.  Sealer  of  \\'ei</L.ts  and  Mea,^ures. 

l^itlimaslers.  — William  Brooks,  E.  IE  Coll.  Jau;es  Eeets. 
E-vi  l-'rlsbie,  Alhei't  £\  Cole.  Aaron  E.  Mack.  William 
Meliityi.e.  Jloi'ace  Bai'ues,  James  McKenney.  Luther 
An^i-ier,  George  W.  Sturtevant.  Titus  ^].  Mitchell,  Davnl 
11.  Snyre.  Augustus  Hill.  David  K.  Woodruff.  Chai'les  T. 
<'iidy.'  Johnson  Hill,  D.  M.  Nichols.  Albert  Stringham, 
J^utlier  B.  Hannnoud.  Heurv  Stone.  John  Ormiston,  l'\n-est 
M.  Coodspeed.  J  ulius  Ferris.  Humphrey  Sherman.  \\  ar- 
i-en  Cibbs.  Leonard  Taylor.  B.  P.  Douglass.  Lconaril  Ware, 
.louathan  Cady.  James  fortune.  Ti'uman  Bartlett. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  board  of  Toud  Auditors  convened 
at  the  Town  Clerk's  oftieo  in  the  tnwn  of  Westport.  od  the 
fir^t  day  of  April.  ISiiJ,  present:  U'illiam  G.  Hunter.  Su- 
pervisoi-,  Cyrus  W.  Eichards,  Town  Clerk.  John  H.  Low. 
J  ra  Henderson  and  Anson  H.  Allen.  Justices  of  the  Peace, 
it  was  unaainiously  resolved  that  the  Supervisor  of  said 
town  pay  over  to  Piatt  R.  Halstead  the  sum  of  tifty  dollars 
heretofore  raised  to  fui-nish  a  map  of  said  town,  whenever 
he  shall  have  completed  the  map  i)y  making  the  allotments 
and  the  subdivisions  of  the  different  patents  of  said  town, 
more  esi.iecially  the  Bottsborough  and  P.  Skeins  Patent, 
to  the  satisfaction  of  said  supervisor. 

Eecoi-ded  tl:is  ::rd  day  of  April.  184:-*.  Cvrus  Eienards. 
Town  Clerk. 

^Yas  this  map  ever  made?  If  so,  wliat  becauje  of  it? 
The  ])reseut  writer  can  find  no  tiaee  <»f  it  except  this 
i-ntry  iu  the  okl  Town  Book. 

This  yc;ir  was  the  one  set  by  William  Milh^r  for  the 
Kml  of  the  World.  Mr.  David  Turner  v.  rites  as  fol- 
hnvs  iu  regard  to  this  remarkable  delusion: 

'•The  Millerite  fanaticism,  that  extended  from  1^^3'J 
to  18i:>,  tlie  day  ti\-ed  fur  the  grand  ascension  of  the 
-aints  to  th.'  realms  above.  At  that  tiuH>  every  man. 
^^omaij  at'd  cbiid  iu  Pauto!.!,  Vt.,  wa.>  a  tiriu  bi>Jiever  iu 


'-v 


fJS  IIISTOHY  OF  WL\STJ'(}/rr 

Miller's    (lucti'iijo.     Even-    Sunday,   unci   almost   every 

week  tiny,  it  catnp-nieetiug  \vas  liekl   in    tli".  woods   on 

the  lake  shore,  and  on  a    still   ni^ht,   with    an   easterly 

wind,  you  could  hear  the  loud  singing  from   across  tho 

lake  - 

''O  Canaan.  hi-i<;ht  Canaan, 

I'm  bound  for  the  land  of  Canaan  !  ' 

O  Canaan  it  is  my  haj)py  home, 

I'm  bound  for  tho  laud  of  Cauaan  ! 

If  you  get  th(M'e  before  I  do, 

.Tust  tell  them  I  am  coming'  too, 

For  I'm  bound  for  the  laud  of  Canaan  !" 

I  ]n^ve  been  told  that  William  Miller  once  preached 
his  wild  doctrine  in  the  Baptist  church  in  Westport, 
when  it  stood  upon  the  hill  where  it  wasiirst  built,  but 
as  tho  church  was  moved  in  1839,  and  Milior  had  then 
but  just  begun  his  propaganda,  I  do  not  think  it  at  all 
likely.  He  seems  to  have  had  very  few  followers  here. 
Mr.  Aaron  Clnrk  once  told  me  that  he  knew  of  some 
]>eople  in  town  who  were  convinced  by  Miller's  argu- 
ments, (drawn  chiefly  from  the  mystical  figures  in  tho 
Book  of  Daniel,)  but  he  would  not  give  their  names  be- 
cause he  said  they  were  all  enlightened  as  to  their  er- 
rors before  now,  from  which  I  guessed  that  they  had 
all  gone  to  another  world,  though  not  precisely  accord- 
i))g  to  the  predictions  of  Miller. 

A  copy  of  the  Tiii*e.s  for  June  1-i  gives  tho  card  of 
Asa  Aikens,  Attoruey-at-Law,  and  a  notice  of  the  for- 
ma ion  of  a  })artuership  between  (Jharles  Hatch  and 
Harvey  Pierce.  Johu  EL  Iiow  "has  just  received  fash- 
ionable sumnier  goods."  Tiie  call  for  a  meeting  of 
schi-Md  teachers  at  the  Aca^lemv  Cor  the  fuimutiou   of  ;«. 


ji/sTom'  OF  WKsT/'ojrr  42.0 

Te.icliers'  Association  in  Wostpoi't,  siguf*!  l\v  Orson 
KoUogi  as  Town  Superiutondeut,  shows  that  he  is  still 
jirincipal  of  the  Academy. 

In  the  Times  for  June  28  th.eve  is  a  honp;  descrij>ii(»u 
of  the  receut  celebration  of  the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill, 
v.ith  au  address  by  Daniel  Webster,  listened  to  by  the 
largest  crowd  ever  seen  in  this  country," — 150,000  !  In^ 
the  procession  were  two  hundred  Eovolntionary  sol- 
diers and  twelve  survivors  of  the  battle  of  Lexington. 
As  for  oar  business  men,  the  most  important  advertise- 
ment seems  to  be  that  of  William  J.  and  Franklin  H. 
Cutting,  who  have  purchased  "store  and  wharf  recently 
owned  %  C.  B.  Hatch,  Esq."  The  copartnership  be- 
tween "William  and  Cyias  Biehards  is  dissolved,  and 
the  business  is  continued  by  William  Biehards  alone, 
^\  hile  on  tlie  other  hand,  a  new  partnership  is  just 
formed  by  -Charles  Hatch  and  Harvey  Pierce.  '"W.  I). 
and  B.  F.  Holcomb  Irave  opened  a  new  tailoring  estab- 
lishment one-door  north  of  Hatch  and  Pierce's  store." 
Asa  Aikens,  "being  a  solicitor  in  Chancery,  and  Attor- 
ney and  Counsellor-at-Law  in  all  the  courts  of  law  in 
A'ermout,  will  attend  to  legal  business  confided  to  him 
in  the  counties  bordering  on  Lake  Champlain."  Kent 
has  just  received  32S  palii:i  leaf  hats,  and  will  sell 
'•sawed  Eave  Troughs,"  and  "Wash  Tubs,  Angler's 
make,"  as  well  as  a  variety  of  stoves.  Edmund  J. 
Smitlr  has  just  opened  a  blacksmith  shop  "one  door 
south  of  his  carriage  shop." 

•We  have  five  old  rcsiJcnt  fuinities,  ciaiitnintf  no  relation^hip  with   one   another 
<ii  Uit-  h.onorab!c  hyl  (rt.j-jcnt  tioaic  of.  Siuuh.     The  oMcsl  of  these  J.s  umloul-tctiiy 


K 


-!3<)  iiiSToiiY  OF  \v/jsTr<j/rr 

TIjo  next  moeting  of  tlic  Toaclicrs'  Association  for 
the  town  of  AVestport  will  bo  held  ut  the  Acaden^y. 
Several  short  addresses  will  be  delivered  on  the  subject 
of  education.  AVilliam  Higby,  Pres.  A.  C.  llogers. 
Sec.  Meetings  of  the  Essex  Couuty  Temperance  So- 
ciety are  still  held,  Dr.  Sanincl  Shunaway  of  Esse'x. 
President,  Orson  Kellogg,  Secretary.  The  Annual 
Meeting  of  the  Chaniplaiu  Baptist  Convention,  witli 
leave  of  Providence,  will  be  held  in  Essex,  July  5.  C. 
AV.  Hodges,  Sec.  X.  P>.  The  Board  of  the  Convention 
are  requested  to  meet  at  Deacon  Keuel  Arnold's. 

Anson  H.  Allen,  as  Justice,  allovNS  himself  a  sly  joke 
in  advertising  'Tlymenial  kuots.  tied  in  good  style  in 
short  order."  Under  "Marriages"  we  tiud  two  interest- 
ing events:  "In  this,  village,  01:1  the  evening  of  the  22ad 
inst.,  b}-  Pev.  J.  Thomson,  ]Mr.  Alonzo  M.  Knapp  >)i 
Crown  Point,  to  Miss  Lucj'  A.  Clark,,  daughter  of  Da- 
vid Clark,  Ji^sq.     Also,  on  the  27th   inst.,   b_)-   Rev.    Mr. 

the  Smith  family  at  VVadhanis,  known  to  have  been  there  before  the  war  of  iSii. 

Edmund  J.  Smith,  of  the  well-known  family  of  Smith  street,  Shoreharn,  Vt.^ 
canic  about  iS4o and  opened  a  carriage  and  blacksmith  shop  near  his  house  on 
Washington  street.  His  wife  was  Emma  I^rrabee,  sister  of  Mrs.  Dr.  Shattuck, 
and  his  children  are  Frank  E.  Smith,  of  the  firm  of  Smith  \-  Kichard-,  and  Mrs.  C. 
A.  Pattisoa. 

Jaiiics  A.  Srailli  came  fmni  Brooklyn  in  iSfo,  zs-A  made  clav  !>ip*s  at  Coil's  Buv. 
His  wife  was  MaiietU  Munereltc,  and  his  chilJreii  now  living^  are  Gab?ic!,.  Peter 
and  Sarah,  now  Mrs.  John  Karnsworth. 

John  E.  Smith  came  froiiv  CaaxuUi.  and  settled  on  the  Iron  Ore  Tract,  on  the  ro  u! 
to  Seventy-five.  He  was  the  father  of  William  Smith,  of  John  Siiulh  tlie  under - 
taker,  and  of  .Mrs-  James  Patten. 

Ira  Smith  was  a  shnemaktr.  and  kept  the  toll-^jale  for  a  long^  time.  His  so-. 
Artli  ir  is  a  jfraduateof  CornelL  I-cil-.e  Smith^brotJier  u£  Ira,  isa  <.-iiLrper]ter,.rK..v.- 
living  on  Pleasant  '-treet. 


K 


iiisroi'v  OF  wrsrroirr  -i.u 

Ifoa-os,  Oill.ert   A.    Grant,  Esq..  of  Non\  :\laiki't,  N.H., 
to  Miss.  H'.leii  St.  John  Aikt^iis  of  tlii.s  j.];ico." 

Ou  tlip  eleventh  of  Seitteuibor  was  lu-l(l  tlie  twenty- 
iiiuth  aijuiversarj  of  tlie  Battle  of  I'lattshur^li,  at 
IMatti^bun'li.  The  l^Tsideut  of  the  day  was  Col  David 
11.  McNeil,  fonvierly  of  Wci^tport,  and  thatpart  of  the  ex- 
erci.'^^'s  most  interesting  from  thejioiut  of  view  of  this  his- 
ti-iy  was  iritfrxlnced  a.s  follows  :  '"J'o  ouiestetmed  fellow- 
citizen.  Pl.itt  II.  Halstead,  Esq.,  late  a  Ij'eutcnaut  in  th--- 
I'uited  States  Army,  I  a,.ssion  the  honor  of  placing- uion- 
luneuts  at  the  graves  of  Capt.  Alexander  Anderson,  of 
the  P>ritish  marines;  Lieut.  William  Paul,  midshipman; 
Williaiji  Gunn  and  3>oatswain  Charles  JackKon  of  the 
Pritis.h  navy,  and  Jose{)li  Bairon,  julot  <>n  board  Com- 
niodore  Macdonoagh's  ship — all  of  whom  fell  in  the 
naval  engagement  in  Cumberland  i^ay,  oft"  Plattsbnroh, 
Sept.  11,  lSl-4.  Josepli  Barron,  pilot,  was  personally 
known  to  Lieut.  Ilalstoad  and  myself,  aiid  was  a  man 
hold  in  high  estimation,  for  his  intelligence  and  jiatri- 
otism,lty  all  who  had  the  })leasnre  of  his  acquaintance." 
The  account  of  the  exercises  goes  on  to  say  that  "Lieut. 
Ifalstead  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  assigned  him, 
♦  lected  the  monuments  at  the  head  of  the  graves  of  the 
three  lieutenants  ot  the  P>ritish  navy,  and  j>ruceeded  to 
the  gravf  of  Jo^e))h  I5:irron,  and  as  near  as  we  could 
catch  his  remarks,  spoke  as  follows  :  'I  take  a  melan- 
choly pleasure  in  erecting  this  monument  at  the  grave 
of  Joseph  Barron,  Commodore  3iacd<^>nougirs  contiden- 
lial  pilot/     .1    knew    him   wt-ll — l)e  wa.s  about   nty   own 


s 


'f:i-2  iiisT()i:r  OF  WFsrrmrr 

a<^e — wo  were  scliool -l)oys  to;^otlior — a  vv-;\rniev  liearte<l 
(!)•  a  braver  man  ))evei'  trod  the  deck  of  a  slii[).'  " 

It  was  ab<jiit  lS-53  that  .Fioeborii]!.  Pa<:i;o  tirst  caino  to 
Westport,  from  H3'i.]e  Park,  Yt.,  wJieie  lie  was  born  in 
18'i4.  His  pai'cnts  were  Lorenzo  and  JPolly  (Matthews) 
]\ige.  He  opened  a  tin  shop,  and  afterward  a  store  for 
general  merchandise,  was  for  a  time  a  partnt^r  of  C.  H. 
Eddy  in  this  jil.ice  and  (lai'i'ied  Km  a  whoh~-sah3  grocery 
bnsiness  in  Troy  for  a  number  of  years.  His  I'trst  wife 
was  Phebe  Ann  Yiall,  daugliter  of  William  Viall,  and 
their  children  were  Kvelyn,  now  Mrs.  Dan  Holcomlj, 
and  Walter,  who  died  at  Bay  City,  Midi.,  in  1883.  His 
-second  wife  was  Mrs.  Mary  Hitchcock,  daughter  of 
William  J.  Cutting.  Mr.  Page's  sister  C'lara  married 
1).  L.  Allen. 

Another  arri\;d  from  "\%:rmont  was  Judge  Asa  Aikens, 
with  his  family,  from  Windsor,  as  is  apparent  from  the 
notice  of  Judge  Aikeiis'  law  business  in  the  Timc^,  and 
the  announcement  of  his  daughter's  marriage,  in  June. 
One  reason  for  their  coming  to  ^yestport  was  the  res- 
idence here  of  Mis.  Aikens' brother,  William  Guy  Hun- 
ter, and  of  the  family  of  her  sister,  Mrs.  Sewall  Cutting, 
wlio  iiad  diotl  three  years  before. 

Asa  Aikens  was  born  in  Barnard,  Vt.,  Jan.  13,  1788, 
the  son  i)f  Solomon  and  Ijetsey  (Stnithi  Aikens.  He 
entered  West  Point  Nov.  30,  IHM,  and  iu  the  war  of 
1812  was  a  captain  iu  the  ."Ust  regiment,  U.  S.  A.  Ht* 
graduated  from  Middlebury  College,  class  of  1S08,  and 
pmcticed  law  in  Windsor  until  his  removal  to  Westport 
Prom  1818  to  1820  he  \\a<  in  the  Yerniout  Ia.-''islatur->. 


s 


niSTony  or  wKsrroirr  -^.-^r-i 

from  1S2P»  to  1825  Jn(l;:-o  of  the, supreme  Court  of  Ver- 
mont, aiul  in  1827  President  of  the  Council  of  Censors. 
In  1827  and  1828  lie  edited  the  Supreme  Court  Ee- 
})()rts.  He  published  two  l;i\v-boolcs,  "Practical  Forms" 
in  18;jr),  and  "Tables,"  in  ISIG,  after  he  had  settled  in 
AVest]:)ort.  The  latter  is  doubtless  the  first  book  ever 
published  by  any  one  living  in  our  to>vn.  He  married 
his  first  wife,.Xancy  Ann  Speucer,  Jan.  24,  1800,  and 
her  children  were  Emma  Jeromino  and  Julienne  Ger- 
trude. His  second  "wife  was  Sarah  Hunter,  marrie-1 
Dec.  4,  1814.  Chikheu  :  Villeroy  Spencer  ;  Mary  Eliz- 
abeth ;  Helen  St.  Johns  (Mrs.  Grant>;  Au-,'usta  (Mrs. 
Dudley);  William  Hunter;  Edwin  Edgerton  ;  Charles 
Eugene;  Sarah  Hurjter  (Mrs.  Jacobson);  Guy  Hunter  ; 
Franklin  Pluuter.  Judge  Aikeus  died  in  Hackensack, 
X.  J.,  while  on  a  visit,  July  12,  1863,  and  his  wife  died 

^even  vears  latei'. 

1S-J4. 

Town  Meeting  held  at  the  Inn  of  H.  J.  Person. 

Franklin  11.  Cutting.  Supervisor. 

William  Van  Vleek,  Clerk. 

John  H.  Low.  Justice. 

Asahel  Lyon,  Town  buperinteudent  of  Common  Schools. 
Tliis  is  the  first  election  of  sucd  an  officer,  and  probably 
marks  toe  date  of  the  first  election  of  trustees  in  the  dif- 
ferent districts.  We  du  nut  Had  the  three  ••school  com- 
missioners" and  the  three  '"sc-hool  inspectors'-  again 
e!c(>ted  as  town  officers. 

Diodorus  Holcomb.  l^uther  An<.ner.  Alexander  Steven- 
sou.  Assessors. 

I'.lijah  .Vngicr,  1-linkley  Coll.  Abrain  K.  Wadhams.  Road 
Commissioners. 

James  W.  Kddy,  ^\'illia[n  L.  Wadhams.  Joseph  K.  Delano, 
Inspector.s  of  Election. 

This  is  tlie  first  election  of  such  otficci-s. 


V 


434  II J  STORY  OF  ]Vj:STPOirr 

Hezekiali  Barbor  iind  FLn-ac-e  ITolcomb.  Ovorsoers  of  the 
PfMDr. 

Benajah  1'.  Dou<.:.'ass.  Collector. 

B.  P.  nou<^lass,  Erastus  Lovehuid,  Jarcd  Goodalo,  flor- 
ace  Barnes,  Constables. 

Heory  H.  Holcomb,  Sealer  of  Weifrhts  and  Mea.sures. 

Patbmastcrs. — Joseph  Bi^^alow,  Elihu  If.  Coll.  James 
Peets.  Tillinf,'hast  Cole.  Charles  Fisher.  Willard  Frisbie. 
Williatn  Viall,  James  Marshall.  Henry  Royce,  (.Tcorore  W. 
Stnrtevaut.  Aoram  E.  Wadhains,  John  R.  \\'himey,  Joel 
IX.  "Whitney,  Joe!  B.  Finney,  Curtis  Pierce.  Leonard 
Fisher.  Jonas  Vauderholf,  AlonzoSlaughter,  JoshuaSmith. 
Jacob  Decker.  Daniel  Nichols.  Jesse  Sherman,  Solomon 
Stockwell.  Lee  Prouty,  William  P.  Merriam,  William  Mar- 
tin, Lyman  F.  Hubbard.  John  Flinu.  Arteraas  Hartwell. 
Joseph  Duntley,  John  Slone,  Truinau  Bartlelt. 

Voted  to  raise  ten  dollars  "to  ]>urchase  a  set  of  Weights 
and  Measures  for  the  use  of  the  Town."" 

-Asaliel  Lyon  failiuf'  tc>  serve  as  Superintendent  of  Com- 
mon Schools  Asa  P.  Hammond  was  ajipointed  in  his  place. 

In  consequence  of  the  resignationof  William  \^an  VIeck." 
Samuel  C.  Dwyer  v.-as  appointed  Town  Clerk  by  three 
Justices,  Miles  M'F.  Sawyer,  Anson  H.-  Allen  and  Ira 
Henderson. 

By  this  time  the  cild  militia  training'  clay  had  passed 
away,  and  its  place  had  beeu  taken  by  tlie  mass  meet- 
ings of  the  people  called  political  conventions.  This 
year  saw  the  last  campaign  of  the  brilliant  Whig  lead- 
er, Henry  Clay,  and  a  grand  Whig  Couveiition  was  held 

•William  Henry  Van  Vleck  was  the  son  of  Mrs.  Cathaline  Po.st  Van  Vleck,  a 
widow  •.vhi>  rf siJed  la  Westport  from  some  time  before  iSjo  to  her  death  in  1S67. 
He  niarric-ii  PJizabeth  WhalloQ,  (iaug'atcr  of  James  M  Whullon,  owner  of  the 
mills  at  Whallonsburgh,  and  they  livtd  in  '.he  large  brick  house  on  the  river  bank 
(since  used  a-i  a  hotel)  which  is  still  sometimes  called  "'the  Van  Vleck  House," 
althojgh  t!ie  %'an  Vlecks  moved  to  Waahinyton  more  ihiin  a  generation  ago. 
L'pon  the  death  of  Eliznbeth  his  wife,  Wiiiiam  Van  Vleck,  married  her  sister  Kin- 
eline  Wh.illon.  Elizabctli  Van  Vicck,  sister  of  Wiliiaiti,  married  the  Rev. 
Thomas  fSrandt,  a  B.iptist  minister  who  preached  in  Wt^lport  from  1S43  to  iS4>, 
and  whojs  said  to  have  been  a  descendant  of  Joseph  Brandt,  the  famous  Mohnv  k 
chief  who  fought  for  the  Biitish  in  trie  Revolution, 


*-v 


II I  STORY  ()F  WKSTrOirr  -io'y 

;it  tlie  county  seat  in  SoptombLM-,  at  wliieh  every  town 
iii  the  couuty  was  represented  by  a  pictorial  delegation. 
The  dis))lay  made  by  AYestport  is  still  remembered  as  a 
triumph.  In  a  large  car  rode  "tweuty-six  ladies,  young 
and  beautiful,"  as  au  eye  witness  reports,  representing 
the  nunib;n-  of  states  then  in  the  Union,  and  each  car- 
rying a  Hag  with  her  state  name  upon  it.  'J'he  car  was 
drawn  by  thirteen  yoke  of  oxen,  each  with  its  own 
teamster,  and  with  horns  decorated  with  red,  white  and 
blue  ribbons,  while  behind  the  car  rose  deafening  music 
from  fife  and  drum.  The  head  teamster  of  nil  was 
Blijah  Wright,  a  famous  driver  of  oxen,  then  more  com- 
monly used  than  horses  for  farm  work.  To-day  thirteen 
yoke  of  oxeu  cannot  be  found  in  the  township.  The 
car  was  a  rude  affair,  and  the  roads  very  bad,  even  for 
that  period,  and  the  whole  delegation  toiik  turns  in 
walking  jiart  of  the  way,  with  the  single  exception  of 
Jose|)h  Ji.  J)elano,  who  was  lame  at  the  time,  and  rode 
iu  state  in  a  rocking  chair.  Of  the  twenty-six  young 
girls  who  took  part  in  this  ardent  display  of  political 
entiiusiasm  three  are  still  living  iu  1003.  One  was 
Mary  Hardy,  afterward  Mrs.  Humphrey  Sherman, 
another  was  Ijouise  Dunster,  afterward  31rs.  Maurice 
Sherman,  and  the  third  was  a  daughter  of  Alexander 
Whitney  who  went  in  disregard  of  her  father's  allegi- 
ance to  the  opposing  i^arty,  the  Loeofocos,  and  Nvho  mar- 
ried George  F.  Stanton. 

Westport  still  has  a  newspaj^er,  but  its  editor  Inis 
ohanged.  Its  name  is  simply  ''The  Ks.sex  Coanhi  T'uncs^' 
it  is  published  Thursdays,  and  its  editor  is  David  Tur- 


K 


4iW  HISTORY  OF  WEST  PORT 

iier.  In  politics  it  represents  the  Anti-AVhig  iiarty 
uljose  name  is  still  in  process  of  fonnation,  as  is  well 
shown  by  this  piiraso  from  the  rosolntions  of  a  recent 
convention — "ever}-  republican  \\ho  desires  the  pros- 
perity of  the  good  old  democvntic  cause."  This  con- 
vention Lad  nominated  Augustus  C.  Hand  U)V  Senator. 

It  is  announced  that  "the  Democrats  of  Wadhams' 
I\]^ills  will  erect  a  Hickory  at  tl;at  place  on  Friday,  Oct. 
4.  The  friends  of  Polk  and  Dallas,  Wright  and  Gard- 
ner, everywhere,  are  invited  to  attend,"  and  there  are  to 
be  distinguished  speakers  from  abroad.  There  is  also 
!i  call  for  three  delegates  from  each  town  to  meet  at 
Elizabethlowu  "to  nominate  a  candidate  for  Member  of 
Assembly  in  the  place  of  "William  G.  Hunter,  who  de- 
clines." We  know  that  the  man  who  actually  went  to 
the  Assembly-  from  our  district  this  year  was  Gideon 
Hammond. 

There  is  a  note  about  the  "Whitehall,"— "this  spa- 
cious and  maguiticeut  Steamer  has  again  taken  her 
place  in  the  Line,"  Capt.  G.  Latbrop.  And  "it  is  said 
that  the  new  Steamer  building  fit  Whitehall  is  to  be 
Ccilled  the  Frdncis  Saltt's,  in  honor  of  a  New  York  Mer- 
chant." Our  postmaster  is  still  C.  P».  Hatch.  D.  H. 
Kent  has  not  yet  changed  the  Maj-  advertisement  which 
announced  that  he  had  just  returned  from  tl>e  south 
with  a  full  and  complete  assortment  of  Gooils,  "which 
range  from  "IJalxarines,  Parisiennes,  Muslin  de  Laines 
and  kid  gloves"  to  plough  points,  wash  tubs  and  wagon 
tires  with  a  supply  of  Parlor,  Cook  and  Box  Stoves, 
"cast  from  the  first  quality  Pig  Iron,  and   warranted 


in  STORY  OF  WKSTPOUT  4:',7 

agaiust  cracks  for  ^ix  uiontlis  v/ith  good  usage."  There 
were  still  people  who  cooked  over  the  primitive  fire- 
places, though  they  were  beconiiijg  very  unfasliionable, 
and  all  the  stylish  folks  had  theirs  bricked  up  be- 
fore this  time,  v\ith  au  ugly  iron  stove  set  iu  the  mid- 
dle of  the  dear  old  hearth-stor.e  whicli  had  been  warm 
to  the  feet  of  so  many  babies  as  they  sat  before  the 
open  fire  aud  toasted  themselves  before  going  to  bed. 
Apropos  of  the  subjects  of  stoves  aud  cookery,  it  must 
have  been  about  18-18  when  Phebe  Sawyer,  presented 
by  her  uncle  with  a  new  gold  dollar,  chose  to  invest  it 
in  the  most  approved  cook-book  thcu  known,  that  of 
Miss  Catharine  Beecher,  in  which  full  directions  are 
given-for  cooking  before  an  open  fire,  with  crane  and 
bake  kettle  and  spider-legged  frying-pan  to  be  set  in  a 
bed  of  glowing  coals.  Cake  was  to  be  raised  with  eggs 
only,  though  directions  are  given  for  the  use  of  "pear- 
lash,"  which  was  usually  made  at  home  by  burning  a 
little  pile  of  clean  cobs  on  a  newly  washed  hearth,  and 
then  gathering  up  the  pearly  little  heap  of  ashes. 

lleturniug  to  the  columns  of  the  Tiin€>:,  we  find  that 
Kent  still  makes  Hats  of  the  Latest  Fashion,  aud  that 
William  J.  and  Franklin  H.  Cutting  are  in  business  as 
before.  Horace  and  Jason  Braman  have  "assigned 
their  book  accounts,  notes  aud  other  eflects  to  Piatt 
Sheldon,"  and  Horace  Braman  wishes  to  let  "the  well- 
I;nowu  Tavern  Stand  at  Wadhams  Mills."  The  firm  of 
W.  D.  aud  B.  F.  Holcomb  has  dissolved  partnership, 
but  W.  D.  Holcomb  will  "continue  to  carry  on  the  Tai- 
loring Busiueso."     John  H.  Low  is  selling  dry   goods, 


K 


^^.v  lUHTOKY  OF  WFSTPOirr 

from  Broaclclotljs  to  ''Ladies'  Cravats,  Fj'iii^t-.-,  Dress 
Silks,  Hat  ami  Cap  Piibboiis,  with  gvocoiies,  anioug 
M  Inch  we  notice  "Lamp  Oil,"  showing  tliat  the  tallow 
candle  was  iu  a  way  to  be  left  behind  like  the  tire-place. 
The  Port  Henry  Iron  "Works  call  for  3000  cords  good 
hard  wood  and  50,000  bushels  o])arcoal  made  from  hard 
woud,  at  sl.To  per  cord  and  G  cts.  a  bushel.  Signed  F. 
H.  Jackson,  Trt:;asurer  Port  Henry  Iron  Co.  This  may 
serve  to  explain  what  became  of  our  forest  primeval. 
Solomon  Stockwell  has  lost  a  red  two  year  old  heifer 
with  a  slit  in  the  left  ear,  but  the  most  remarkable  loss 
is  that  of  Jacob  Allen  of  Elizaliethtown,  v^lio  announ- 
ces indignantly  that  "on  Sunday  last  an  indented  a{v 
prentice  named  Thomas  Half})enny"  ran  away  from  the 
subscriber.  It  seems  that  Thomas  Halfpenny  was  an 
Irishman  and  "wore  away  a  dark  blue  coat  considerably 
worn,  light  coloured  vest,  blue  cotton  drilling  paiita- 
l<H)iJS,  a  new  fur  hat  and  black  velvet  stock." 

There  are  two  very  interesting  obituaries. 

"Hied,  at  his  residence  in  this  village,  after  a  long 
and  painful  illness,  on  the  30th  ult.,  the  Hon.  Barnabas 
Myrick,  aged  -10  years.  Mr.  My  rick's  loss  is  a  public 
calamit}-.  He  was  one  of  our  Avealtiiiest,  most  enter- 
prising and  useful  titizeus.  For  many  years  he  has 
been  identified  with  the  prosperity  of  our  llourisliing 
village,  and  beeu  foremost  in  its  advancement,  having 
tilled  many  olhces  of  trust  with  honor  ami  ;dnlit_v. 
among  which  was  the  re])resentation  of  thi>  cDunty  in 
the  State  L"'L;islatui-e.      Init  he  is  cut  d(;\vu  in  the  midst 


K 


niSTOHY  OF  Wh'Sr/'ORT  -/.v.'v 

of  his  clays,  loaving  a  lovely  faunly  mid  a  lavgi;  circle  of 
aequaiulauccs. 

"Also,  on  the  same  day,  William  Huuter  Aikens,  late 
of  the  Uui'versity  of  Vermont,  second  son  of  the  Hon. 
Asa  Aikens,  a^ed  20  years.  'J'his  talented,  amiable 
and  interesting  young  man  has  been  cut  down  in  the 
midst  of  his  collegia  to  course.  It  is  about  a  year  since 
the  ipsidious  disease  which  was  destined  to  prostrate 
in  the  dust  tlie  buoyant  aspirations  ot  the  youth  and 
the  fond  hopes  of  parents  and  friends,  began  to  mani- 
fest itself  in  the  decline  uf  his  liealth.  Although  he 
had  been  placed  under  the  special  care  of  einintjDl,  med- 
ical gentlemen  of  the  city  of  New  York,  no  exertions 
could  save  him,  and  his  friends  are  left  with  no  other 
consohition  than  that  his  elevated  spirit  shrunk  not  at 
the  prospect  of  death." 

■  This  vear  also  died  two  of  the  pioneers,  Enos  Ijove- 
land,  aged  seventy-eight,  and  John  Halstoad,  aged 
seventv-four.  ]3oth  born  under  the  reign  of  a  British 
king,  they  had  Hved  to  see  the  young  republic  come  to 
that  stage  of  development  in  which  an  American  had 
just  perfected  the  electric  telegraph.  Coming  into  the 
wooded  wilderness  of  this  region  in  ISOO,  they  had  seen, 
in  the  pjissage  of' a  half-century,  the  growth  of  a  busy 
little  village,  with  comfortable  homes  scattered  over  all 
the  tillable  laud  of  the  township. 

Town  Moi'tin.L'  held  at  the  Inn  of  II.  J.  Person. 
A«<a  Ai'fcCL'Us.  Supervisor. 
\Viiiiani  1).  lIokoaiD.  Clerk. 


K 


440  HISTORY  OF  WKSTrOHT 

Dauiol  S.  French  was  elected  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and 
David  S.  McL»^od  was  apjiointed  to  till  vacancy. 

Leveretl  Pavd}-,  Cullectoi-. 

David  P.  Hi.ltdU.  Town  Siiperiatendcut  of  Sebools. 

Moses  Felt.  Aaron  P.  Mack.  Arcliil)aid  Patterson.  As- 
sessors. 

GeoriTC  Skinner,  Williuni  J.  Cnttie.g.  Sauu'.el  Koot,  lliyb- 
way  Corninissiouers 

James  ^^^  Eddy,  David  H.  Sayre,  William  J.  Cuttin«r. 
Inspectors  of  Election. 

Albert  P.  Cole  and  iSl<'\)lien  Sayre.  Poor  Masters. 
/  Leverett  Pardy,    Horace    P.    Carpenter,    Ira    Downey. 
Ralph  A.  Loveland.  Constables. 

John  H.  Low.  Town  Sealer  of  Wei^'hts  and  Measures. 

•Pathmasters.— Thomas  Walton,  E.  H.  Cole,  Samuel  PJoot. 
Peter  Ferris,  Charles  Fisher,  Asa  Loveland,  William  Via!!. 
James  Marshall,  Elijah  Angicr,  George  W.  Sturte'vant. 
Elijah  Wrig-ht,  Joseph  Hardy,  A u sou  Drama n.  D.  R.  Wood- 
ruff, Leonard  Fisher.  Harvey  Smith.  Marcus  J.  Iloising 
ton.  John  Daniels.  Barton  Hammond,  Edward  Harper,  F. 
T.  f  jo  ward.  Solomon  Stock  well.  Lee  Prouty.  Moses  Felt. 
William  Martin,  Leonard  Taylor,  Benajah  P.  Douglass. 
William  Hartwell,  Orrin  Skinner,  James  Fortune.  Ziba 
Howard. 

Voted  to  raise  .SirvOC  for  Weights  and  Measui-es. 

This  year  we  liave  no  old  newspaper  to  refer  to,  aud 
so  far  as  the  kuowlcdge  of  tlie  present  writer  extends, 
no  more  of  the  Westpoi't  papers  are  in  existence. 
Nolliiug  is  more  ephemeral  than  a  newspaper,  and  it  is 
only  by  accident  that  our  few  treasures  have  l)een  kept 
for  us.  Even  now,  as  1  write,  some  housewife  may  be 
rjoing  through  some  inherited  garret  like  a  destroying 
angel,  piling  up  rubbish  in  the  chii)-yard,  and  applying 
a  match  to  the  last  one  of  the  old  Turner  papers.  They 
were  not  published  for  more  than  three  or  four  years 
after  this,  and  if  we  had  a  copy  of  each  number  it  wonhl 
not  take' a  very  large  place   to  pile  them.      Old   letters 


*-v 


iiist<u:y  of  wKsrroirr  ■  441 

;iiul  cliuries  c<*ntaiii  inncli  tlirit  is  of  interest,  1-iit  are  iint. 
of  coui'se,  freiieially  accessible  to  the  ])ul)]ic. 

Jii  Jaiiuarv  Piatt  li.  Halstead  made  one  of  liis  wiii- 
tci' jouriie^  s  to  the  >;outh,  to  escapt^,  the  cliilliui;  n  imls 
of  the-cliuiate  which  had  ah-ea.dy  set  its  seal  \\\)uu  al! 
h.is  father's  family.  This  was  })i()l)al)ly  his  tirs!:  wintci- 
sjieiit  ia  the  south,  aud  after  this  l)e  weiit  every  winter 
until  his  death,  s.lop])ii)g  iii  Mcv.  York  for  a  short  visit 
to  Dr;  Evaiider  TlauLiey,  and  then  L^oiny  on  to  Jackson- 
ville, Florida.  IIu  l.e[it  a  diary  of  these  tri[is,  jjoi-tions 
of  which  were  printed  in  the  X<v  )''>rl;  Ki-ritiifj  r<,.<{. 
lie  was  per.sonally  acquainted  wjth  the  editm',  William 
Cullen  Bryaut,  a  njan  of  exactly  his  own  a^e.  There 
are  a  few  leaves  of  the  mannscrij.t  of  tliis  diary  left,  in 
ivliich  ht3  gives  a  description  of  Savannah,  and  sa^'s  : 
''We  £irri\'ed  at  Savannah,  about  eleven  o'clock,  .i.  .M.  I 
took  a  walk  through  the  town,  and  took  (jnarteis  at  the 
C  ity  Hotel,  lu  the  couv.se  of  the  da}-  1  came  across 
Ivensselaer  Ross,  .son  of  'JMiecuh.'ius  Jloss,  fi^rnjeriy  of 
kVlizabethtown.  He  is  an  old  acrinaintance,  and  u'e 
were  much  pleysod  to  meet  each  other.'"  His  eye 
fwr  milita,ry  ujatters  is  thus  shown:  "Passed  by  the  bar- 
rack.s  of  ihe  V.  S.  troops,  about  ou(^  huiidied  left. 
Went  ou  the  pai'ade  <:;r(mL!d  and  saw  them  insi)ected. 
Sh<nild  think  ihetu  mostly  recruits."  The  first  of  Feb- 
ruar\-  he  concludes  to  go  further  .south.  "Made  a  few 
purchases,  as  I  had  been  advi-^.  d  Lty  a  Mr.  Hancock,  a 
gentleman  from  ^'irginia  who  hatl  just  retnrned  from 
-facksonville,  sent  some  ]iapers  honje,  {lacked  ujt  my 
•baj^age,  j>aid  uiy  bill,  took  a  Ij-J.ej.idly  .sh>ke  ..»'  \h,j  \ 


Jill 


K 


■442  HISTORY  OF  WKSTPOnT 

■with  souio  aL'({ii;iiut;iiico  which  I  had  made  wijih^  in  Sa- 
vannah, and  was  accou)panied  to  the  boat  bv  iuineh(.ist 
of  the  hotel,  Avho  kindly  introduced  me  to  some  gentle- 
wen  who  wore  jourueying  south.  The  scenery  this 
evening  as  we  passed  through  it  was  very  interesting  to 
a  Northern  man.  Some  of  the  iidets  appeared  to  me 
like  our  creeks,  or  the  lake  ten  or  twelve  miles  below 
Whitehall,  excepting  the  marshes,  smooth  and  even,  ex- 
tending in  some  places,  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reacJi, 
with  numerous  blutTs  «))•  islands  covered  with  live  o;ik, 
with  its  long  grey  hair-moss  hanging  from  the  limbs, 
with  their  beautiful  green  leaves.  The  yellow  or  long- 
leaved  pitch-pine,  stately  and  tall,  with  but  few  limbs 
until  you  approach  the  top  of  the  tree, — the  palmetto, 
which  you  frequently  see  along  the  banks  or  edges  of 
the  marshes,  with  its  round  top  comi)osed  of  long  shin- 
ing green  leaves,— all,  all  is  new  to  me,  and  highly  pic- 
turesque. We  passed  several  islands,  with  large  plan- 
tations, with  venerable  mansions,  surrounded  by  their 
numerous  out-buildings  and  negro  houses,  all  white  ap.d 
neat  in  jippearance.  You  occasionally  get  a  view  of  the 
ocean,  and  see  its  huge  billov.s  bursting  in  foam  on  the 
sandy  points  of  the  islands,  or  the  numerous  bars  be- 
tween them."  This  fragment  of  the  diary  stops  witlj 
the  Jjoat  running  aground  near  Jacks(Miviile. 

Lieutenant  Halstead  had  given  n\\  his  own  house  at 
the  top  of  the  hill  not  long  lifter  his  sister's  marriage, 
and  lui  I  bought  and  remodeled  the  long  white  house 
which  was  built  by  Charles  B.  Hatch  almost  on  the  site 
of  "the  CiaUles"  of  th.e  Wrstport  Inn,  but  standing  closr 


K 


JiisrouY  OF  ]v/:sT/'()/rr  •/■/.■? 

r.pDi)  tlie  ro.-i'l.  Here  lie  occnpi.Ml  a  bedrr'otn  an-.l  sit- 
liiip,  room  up  stairs,  in  the  north  eud,  while  Mrs.  Yau 
^'l(•ck  and  her  familv  occupied  the  rest  of  the  house. 
Mrs.  Van  Vk^ck  was  an  old  and  dt-ar  friend,  and  Ije 
foi.k  his  meals  witli  h-n-,  this  avrangeniont  lasting;  until 
l.'is  healtli  failed  sr>  fast  that  he  wont  to  liis  sister's  house 
and  there  died  in  1849.  Tiiis  uncle  was  tlio  fairy  p;od- 
I'alher  of  his  sister's  jrrowing  family  of  cliiidren,  always 
(•.«!uinp;  baek  from  the  south  with  trunks  full  of  j^ifts, 
and  when  he  died  he  left  them  all  his  property. 

In  1845  was  bnilt  a.  plank  road  t(^  I'dizabethtown 
with  two  toll  f-'nles,  one  standing  near  where  thu  rai!- 
v.jiy  now  crosses  tlie  road,  and  the  other  near  tiie 
■\illage  of  Elizabc^htown.  This  road  to  the  Val- 
li'v  had  up  to  this  time  been  invariably  bad,  running 
t!ir(>ugh  low  land  which  could  only  be  crossed  bv  miles 
of  nc^oni.xinii^  corduroy.  It  was  made  a  turnpike.  This 
plank  road  ^reatly  facilitnted  the  carriage  of  ore  from 
i oats  lying  at  our  wharves,  which  had  been  loadeil  at 
Port  Henry,  to  the  forges  at  Elizabethtown  and  Lewis, 
and  the  return  of  theii-  manufactured  iron.  This  year 
a  new  forge  was  erectrd,  on  tlie  Boquet.  b}-  W.  V.  S:  V. 
1  >.  ^Merriain.  It  contained  tln-ee  tii'es,  one  hammorand 
two  wheels.  It  consumed  charcoal,  burned  in  kilns  on 
Hie  Iron  Ore  tract  owned  by  the  company-,  and  also  in 
niany  a  solitary  kilu  in  tlie  forest,  tended  by  some 
farmer  or  woodsman  willing  to  nnike  a  few  dollars  in 
this  way.  Twenty-<-»ne  _\ears  after  tin;  opening  of  Mer- 
riaui's  Forge,  in  ISOn,  according  to  Watson,  it  wasburn- 
nig  eighty  thousand   bushels  (>f  charcoal,   and    niaking 


K 


444  II I  STORY  OF  \Vi:STI'oRT 

six  liniuliocl  and  thii-tv  tons  of  ^ore  into  f.nir  liundiv.l 
aucl  fifty  tous  of  iron,  in  one  year.  Thi.s  was  no  .loubt 
the  maximum  out-pnt.  TJiese  works  remained  in  op,^- 
ration  until  about  1S70,  but  since  thoii  have  been  shut 
down. 

Tliis  year  D.  L.  Allen  bought  the  Donqlass  wharf 
and  store..  For  six  years  he  had  been  at  Wadhams  in 
P--^'ttH.)..hip  uith  J.  K.  DeLano.  For  thirty-three  years 
he  did  a  flourishing  business  in  the  Douglass  store,  and 
m  1S78  moved  into  the  large  new  store  on  North  street 
where  his  son,  Frank  W.  Allen,  has  succeeded  hin..' 
Ihis  makes  a  contiijuous  business  in  town  for  sixty- 
tliiee  years,  the  longest  in  our  history.  David  Lewk 
Allen  was  a  son  of  Nathaniel  Allen,  who  came  in  fronr 
Pauton  in  ]S21.  The  other  sons  of  Nathaniel  \ll.i, 
'  ^-ere  Almond  and  James  A.,  and  his  daughters  Alma 
and  Susan,  now  Mrs.  Farnsworth. 

In  1815  i\u^  first  St.  am    propelko-  on    the   lake   was 
built  at  Whitehall  and  called  the  .Jomc.  II.    tlookn;  af- 
terwards doing  a  large  towing  busiiiess.     The    Honker 
^vhen  first  built,  carried  sails  and  had  a  center-boai'd    " 
In  the  trustees'  book  of  the  J]aptist  church  is  a  list 
oi  the  pew-holders  of  this  year,  which  it  is  believed  will 
1^  <-f  interest.     First   oujes   the  minister's  pew,  just 
■south  of  the  pulpit,  occupied  by  the-  family  of  the  Eev 
'  Thomas  Brandt.     The  nine  other  pews  iu  the  front  of 
tiie  church  are  owned  by  Joel  Finney,  Miles  M'R  Saw- 
yer, H.  iJ.Kstwic-k,    Alexand.er   Young,    Albert   P    Cole 
William  Stacy.  Ira  Henderson,  Noriis   McKiuney    an.I 
>\iniam  J..  Cutting;.      Tlu-u  iu  the   body   of   the   di-uv'- 


K 


jiiSTouY  OF  \vt:srr<nrr 


-i^. 


r.aniabas  Mvricl:,  linos  Lovel;ni«1,  (-tiilcon  H;\itUiion(l, 
I!ilnuu)il  J.  Stnitli,  Calvin  An^jier,  George  B.  lioyutilds, 
.l..nathan  Nichols,  TillinoljMst  Cole,  Piatt  lloger.^ 
Ifalstead,  Abner  Slancfjitcr,  Xeuton  iiays,  Daiius  ^ler- 
li.iii),  C'ahiu  ITanuiioiid,  Willi.-Jin  Olds,  Dependence 
Nichols,  Klijah  Angior.  Alonzo  Shm^dilev.  A.  l>arlf  r, 
Hammond  iV'  ^IcLeod.  Ralph  ]voveland,  I).  Angier  A' 
Smhs,  Dan  H.  Kent,  Joel  13.  Jinney,  Caleb  V.  Cole. 
.!an)es  ]N^oKinney,  Aaron  B.  Mack,  Douglass  A:  Allen, 
Mr.  Hubbard,  Charles  B.  Hatch.  Dr.  Kanney,  Charles 
Hatch,  William  Viall,  Jabez  Frisbie,  Luther  Angier,  E. 
]'>.  Nichols.  Each  j)ew  -was  considered  the  property  of 
th((  person  who  bou<:(ht  it,  and  the  {.-rices  varied  accord- 
ing:; to  the  desirability  of  the  situation,  the  highest  bei  ng 
two  at  S90  each,  owned  by  Norris  IMcKinuey  ;ind  Wil- 
liam .].  Cutjing,  to  half  a  dozen,  mostly  marked  "Bap- 
tist Church,"  vidned  at  ^30.  The  sum  total  of  value  of 
;dl  the  ]>evvs  was  s  1000..  These  uames  are  uot  all  those 
<'f  members  of  the  Baptist  church.  For  instance,  the 
1  bitches  .'dl  belonged  to  ihe  Methodist  church,  but 
I'liuglit  pews  in  the  other  church  because  thev  were 
Milling  to  hei[)  both  societies.  Neither  were  all  these 
men  living  at  the  time,  since  we  know  Dan  Kent,  Enos 
Eovthuid  and  Barnabas  M.yrick  were  dead,  but  the  pews 
were  still  held  in  their  names.  A  siiiiilar  list  of  pew- 
liolders  in  the  other  churches  at  this  tin)e  would  lie  of 
great  interest,  but  I  have  not  been  .able  to  obtain  them. 
This  year  the  M.  E.  church  built  a  iu*w  })arsonagt', 
directly  north  of  the  church,  wliich  was  in  use  until  the 
pre.sejit  ojie  was  built  jjj  l^S'J.     'J'he  old  p.irsoDfmo  jjow 


K 


^in  iiisTom'  OF  wKSTrour 

stands  at  the  wcriterr.  end  of  the  bridi^e,   and   is  ov^ne.i 
by  ]Mr>^.  John  Touhey.     The  committee  upou   building  | 
the  parsonage,  whicli   had   been   appointed   four  years  s 
before    thi.v,    consisted    of   Wiiham    Melntyre,   Andrew  j 
Frisbie,  E.  Ilolcomb,  John  Greely  and  Aaron  Clark. 

In  connection  with  t)ie  subject  of  travel  it  is  interest- 
ing to  Jiote  a  table  of  prices  for  this  period,  from  which 
it  appera-s  that  one  coald  '^\o  from  New  York  to  Albauv 
on  a  lu-st-class  steamer  for  titty  cents;  from  Albany  tu 
Whitehall,  seventy-seven  miles,  on  steamer  and  packet, 
for  one  dollar  and  thirteen  cents;  from  "Whitehall  to  St 
John's,  one  hundred  miles  by  steamer,  tweuty-tivr 
cents;  from  St.  John's  to  LaPrairie,  fifteen  miles,  by 
railway,  fifty  cents,  and  from  LaPrairie  to  Montreal. 
nine  miles  by  steamer,  fifty  cents. 

1S4G. 

Town  Meetin»:at  H.  J.  Per.sou. 

lleuajab  P.  Dou^rlass.  vSupervLsor. 

William  n.  Holeorab.  Clerk. 

Thomas  Walton,  Justice. 

Asa  P.  ilamrnond.  Town  Su[ieviuteudent  of  Couiuujr 
Schools. 

Ira  Downey.  Collector. 

Aaron  U.  Mack  was  elected  Asses-sor  for  three  years, 
M.  Mitchell  ivv  two  years  and  Andrew  Frisbie  for  one 
year.  This  is  the  lirst  time  that  the  board  of  Asse.sscii-> 
was  so  form-'d  that  one  menAber  should  be  cbang-ed  every 
year. 

Jason  RramuQ  was  elected  Plli^liwav  (Commissioner  for 
ti)ree  years,  William  Melntyre  for  two  years  and  Hinkley 
Coll  for  one  vear. 

David  [T.  Savre,  David  S.  Mef^eod.  P.oderick  R.  Pdsio^^. 
Inspeetors  of  Election. 

Albert  P.  Cole  and  Benjamin  Hardy,  Poor  Masters. 
*  Tra  Downey,  James  M.   ,Mef.a  u,  Charles    fl.    Etldy.  Urr 
ace  l'"i^h,  Cou.-.t.ali!es. 


n/sro/n'  nr  westpout  -ui 

Dun  S.  Cuttiucr.  S.'aU'f  of  Wei<rhts  imd  Mini-.ui-(\s. 

l'at,biuiistc>r.s.— Ttiomus  Wiiltuu.  Alexander  Stfvi-nson. 
.1, Lilies  W.  Coll.  Levi  Frisbie.  Albert  \\  Cole.  Elijah  Xew- 
.11.  William  McJtJtyre.  Eleazar  11.  Raunoy.  Elijah  An.irier. 
(ieofi^'e  W.  Sturtevant,  Fratieis  fhiiriv,  Ivl-A-ard  Coltjuru. 
JoflK.  Ercnob.  Dyor  S.  Hill.  EiihiMiin  lUill.  ,Ir..  Nai-vev 
.v:nith.  A!)rani  S!aa<:bter.  A.sa  Smith,  D.  .\J.  Howard, 
.•^tiikeiy  H  Stacy.  J)<)rr  .M.  Howard,  i^zekiel  J^anj^burii.  ]•". 
.\la->on.  ITmpbrcy  Shei-man.  Abram  Hreeiey.  E.  HubL>ard. 
.Si'woll  Cuttintr.  Willard  Hartwell.  Orriu  Skinner,  .John 
-Stone.  RuTus  Barr.  .Ziba  Howard. 

In  December  a  new  road  was  laid  out  near  Hrainard's 
l".)ri,'e  '•tbrougb  land.x  of  Deliverance  Nichols.  DyerS.  Hill 
.111(1  Nel.st)n  Lewis. " 

Kuad  distric-t  Xo.  lo  was  changed  to  run  from  '"towr. 
line  at  M.  i*.  WhaHoa"s  north-east  coi'uei'  to  the  line  of 
Eutber  An<iier  s  farm." 

This^vear  the  three  men  who  were  elected  County  Su- 
|>rrintendents  of  the  Poor  w^re  H.  J.  I'ersonsand  Wiiliani 
L  Merriam  of  Westi'ort.  and  Eli  W.  I^^^^im's  of  Whallous- 
bur-h. 

In  May  there  was  a  .=;pecial  Tf;wn  ^Meetin^  to  vote 
ii|un)  (lie  qne-sticii  of  giviiiL^'  licenses  to  liquor  sellers. 
'i  his  was  ajiparentl\'  the  iiist  time  tiiat  the  ]K)iiit  Inul 
.-trispii.  There  \\-eie  cast  20")  votes,  of  which  l-iO  were 
for  ''Xo  Liofiise,"  ami  11  f!  for  "License."  This  sliows 
a  ^reat  change  iu  public  opinion  in  thclast  fifteen  ^■ears. 

Tljis  aiid  the  next  occurred  the  Mtwican  War,  luit  it 
seenis.not  to  liave  stiDorl  a  ripj^le  o]i  the  calm  waters 
<'f  Westport  society.  I  have  heard  that  Mr.  Waiter 
Koot  served  in  that  war,  Imt  do  nr.t  know  whether  he 
was  a  citi/.en  <►*'  Westport  at  that  time. 

There  was  a  new  school  hriusi-  huilt.  at  Wadhams. 
Nvhich  is  .^.till  in  use,  and  it  was  of  future  importance  t*. 
<is  that  thi<  year  the  first  sewing  tuachine  was  perfected, 
.Ithoijyh  it  u  as  ii^ii  <.»r  tifti'on  ve.'irs  be.*'ure  the  lirst  on^'^ 


K 


44."^  II I  ST  0 1!  Y  OF   WHSTPOirr 

WM.'^  bi'ouuljt  into  tliis  town.  'JMiis  w;is  also  tlio  tiiai' 
wlieu  thr(3e-cout  posta^^e  was  adopted,  a  (;l]an<i;i.'  imme- 
diately an'octing  evoi-y  iudividiial. 

Town  Meeting  at  Fl.  J.  J-*ersuD. 

Juba  flutch  J.iovv,  Supervisor. 

William  D.  Holcomb.  Clei-k. 
-    Samuel  lioot  and  David  S.  MeLeod,  Justices. 

Ira  Dowuey,  Collector. 

Abram  M.  Olds,  Town  Super  iuteudeut  of  Schools. 

Andrew  Fri.sbie.  Assessor. 

Arcbibald  Pattersou,  Hi^rhway  Commissioner. 

Daniel  W.  T^raman.  Joseph  R.    Delauo,  David  R.  Wooil 
rutV.  Inspectors  oi  I'Llectiou. 
'      Albert  \\  Cole  and  Joel  F.  Whitney,  Po(^r  Masters. 

Ira  Downey.  I..oyal  A.  Baxter,  Charles  II.  Eddy,  Husc;!. 
iloward  and  Anson  C.  Ro^s,'ers,  Constables. 

Samuel  i{.  Farnsworlh,  Sealer  of  Wei^^htsand  Measui-es. 

Pathmasters. — Thomas  Walton.  Alexander  Stevenson, 
James  \Y.  Coll.  Archibald  Patterson.  Albert  P.  Cole.  Wll- 
lard  Frisbie.  William  H.  Mclntyve,  James  [Marshall.  Henry 
lioyec.  Geoi-ije  W.  Sturtevaul,  Daniel  French,  Joel  P. 
Whitney.  A.  Finney,  Geor^re  Skiuner,  Samuel  Storrs,  Jus- 
tin Harris.  Marous  J.  Huism^tou,  Albei't  Strioi;ham. 
Luihev  R.  Hainuiond.  Dennis  B.  Stacy,  Dorr  W.  Howani. 
Orlain  Stock  well,  Julius  W.  Ferris.  Moses  Felt.  Abran.>- 
Greelev.  Liei>nard  Taylov^.  Sewall  Cutting,  Julius  N'aughan. 
Orria  Skinner,  John  Stone,  T>evi  Atwood.  Ziba  Iloward. 

•    In  April  theio   was  a   special    election^   hek)    at    tlo^ 

same  liou.se,  to  decide  a.^aiii  uix)ii   the  liquor  question 

This  time  there  were  31i>  vi>tes,  of  which    191    were  for 

■'Liceusu'"  ;uid  \'1~>  for  "No  License."     This    reversal  of 

tlie   decision    of  the  lu-eeijdiu;..^  year  shows  intense  ai^i- 

tation  uf  tlu^  tpiestion. 

]NLr.  S.  Wheatoi)  Cole  write-?  me  thus  ai>out  this  yeai- :. 

"I  was  tiacluu;^  l\fty-tw< >  ye;!.rs  ;i,;^o  the  pa.st  wuitcv  "'. 


K 


in  STORY  OF  wr.srroirr  -/-/.v 

the  north  side  of  tlie  bridge.  The  l)rick  school  h(jaso 
stood  near  the  residouoo  of  !\Lr.  William  Olds,  thf  l)lack- 
srnith.  liev.  Thomas  Lrandt  was  ])astor  of  tlio  ]'»aptist 
«;harch,  liev.  Poiuoro}'  of  the  M.  E.  church.  The  tJier- 
cliants  were  B.  R  Douglass  on  the  north  side,  John  H. 
Low,  C.  B.  Hatch  and  Son,  ^Yalker  Eddy,  William 
Bichards  aud  Harvey  Pierce  ou  the  south  side.  Lake 
Chauipluiu  was  covered  with  sailing  vessels  and  steam- 
ers tlien;  there  is  scarcely  one  seen  to-day.  The  entire 
countr}-  is  cleared  of  its  forests.  The  lake  liad  good 
< locks  aud  warehouses  in  every  town,  to-day  there  are 
hut  ft?w.  Chango  is  written  on  everything  in  th.e  east, 
yet  I  love  to  visit  it." 

Miss  Augusta  Ketit  was  also  teaching  at  this  time,  a 
primary  school  in  one  room  of  the  Academy. 

The  Bev.  Benjamin  Pomeroy  was  not  stationed  here 
■IS  preacher  until  the  years  LS-19  anrl  1850.  In  1847 
Bcv.  William  W.  Pierce  was  }>astor  of  the  M.  E.  church, 
aud  in  ISIS  Bev.  D.  P.  Hulburd.  At  this  time  the  pas- 
tor of  llie  Congreg.itional  church  was  the  Bev.  Charles 
.Si>ooner,  who  remained  thirteen  years,  from  1841  to 
18.31. 

18-48. 

Town  MijetinLfat  H.  J.  PtM'sou's. 

William  .1.  Cuttiii.!:.  Sup'-rvisor. 

Samuel  11.  Fanissvorth.  Clerl:. 

Juliii  II.  \j>)\\  and  William  D.  Ilok-oaii),  Justice^;. 

Daniel  W.  (Jraman,  Town  SLipi-rinteudent  of  S;-bools. 

Ira  DowufV,  Collector. 

Cieo.  Skinrier,  Assessor. 

.John  Greely,  Hi^jliwav  Conunissioner. 

Joci  F.  WlAluev  and  .\il)crt  P.  Cui-',  I'cor  Masl'T.-,. 


^ 


4:10  iiisTOh'y  or  wrsrroin' 

"Williatii  1\  .Mei-riam  aud  Kdiiiuiid  J.  Smith,  rn'^])ectors 
C'f  Election. 

Ira  Duwiicy.  Nathan  Slau;^4itof,  llat-ry  N.  Cole,  Dorr  W. 
Howard.  Anson  C.  Kogcrs,  Constal)les. 

J'^i't'oborii  ]].  Paj^a"?,  Sealer  of  \\\u;,djt.s  and  .Measures. 

Diodorus  l.foloonib  ap].>ointL'(i  luspcctor  of  Eleetion  by 
the  Town  lloard. 

Pathmaslor.s.- -Thomas  "Walton,  llinklev  Coll,  Jarnes  W. 
Coll,  Noel  Merrill,  Samuel  W.  Cole.  Willard  Frisbie.  John 
Greely,  William  P.  Merriam,  James  I^]arshall,  Elijah  Aq- 
;.'-icr,  Coorpe  W.  SturtevatU,  Jason  J^ratnan.  Joseph  R. 
Delano,  Joel  K.  French,  R.  Woodruff.  Alvin  iiurt.  Johnson 
Hill,  J.  Nichols,  Jr.,  David  Smith,  Dorr  M.  Howard,  Hiram 
Stacy,  Fiobert  Doty.  Horace  ^oodspeed,  Julius  W.  Ferris. 
Orrin  Cronk,  Lorenzo  GibDs.  Geor>{e  Bennett,  D.  L.  Allen. 
J.  H.  Finnev,  Orrin  Skinner,  James  Fortune,  W.  Tuus- 
dall,  H.  Howard. 
'Geor^re  Skinner  api.winted  assessor. 

Miles  M'F.  Sawyer  ap[)ointed  Inspector  of  Election  in 
])laco  of  Diodorus  Holeonib,  who  I'efnsed  to  accept. 

At  this  town  meeting  the  voiers  all  protested  against  a 
reported  petition  which  was  to  be  ^n-esented  to  the  Legis- 
lature by  the  town  of  Essev,  praying  that  "one  mile  wide 
of  Westport"' should  be  set  off  into  Essex.  This  protesi- 
\v'd  Vote  seems  to  have  been  siitllcient  for  the  purpose  in- 
tended, as  the  Supervisor  was  instructed  to  send  a  copy 
of  the  protest  to  our  Representative  at  Albanv. 

A  highway  was  laid  out.  upon  application  of  Franklin 
H.  Cutting  and  others,  '"through  lauds  of  the  late  Barna- 
bas iNlyrick  and  of  Franklin  H.  Cutting,  beginning  eighty 
tlu'ee  links  north  of  the  building  formerly  occu]ned  for  a 
Hat  Shop  t^y  Dan  H.  Kent,  (who  died  two  years  before.  > 
ruuniug  thence  east  nearly  tc>  the  old  stone  mill,  thence 
south  until  it  intersects  the  highway  leading  from  Frank- 
lin H.  Cutting's  store  easterly  to  the  lake." 

A  road  was  applitid  for  by  Jonathan  Nichol.^.  to  be  laid 
out  •"through  lands  cf  the  late  John  Chandler.  Calviii 
Hammond,  Charles  Hammond,  and  Dennis  and  Joseph 
Stacy."  Mention  is  made  of  ""the  late  Gideon  Hamuiond.  " 
and  of  a  '"house  being  liuiit  by  Dennis  Stacy. " 

Town' Meeting  adjourned  ""to  the  Hotel  of  Ira  HendL-r. 
sou,"  which  was  kept  by  nis  son-in-law,  William  iiicharcis. 

Tl'.is  year  came  Mr.  aiul  ]Mr.-..  Francis  L,    i.t-e.    t'roni 


jfisTom'  or  WL'STJ'O/rr  ^r,i 

3M->ston  anJ  built  the  house  which  tlioy  callc-J  "Stouy 
Sides"  on  a  hill  north  of  the  vilUige,  ovedooking  the 
lake.  Mr.  Lee  was  accustomed  to  give  as  liis  reason 
lV)r  building  liere  that  he  luid  traveled  through  all  parts 
of  the  habitable  globe,  and  had  never  found  a  spot  with 
a  finer  prospect  nor  with  more  natural  advantages  for 
a  home.  His  taste  for  landscape  gardening'  w-as  fully 
indulged  in  tlie  care  which  hu  bestowed  upon  the  sur- 
roundings of  liis  house,  and  many  a  garden  and  door- 
vard  in  the  village  was  also  improved  liy  his  advice, 
and  by  the  gift  of  bulbs  and  flowering  shrubs  which 
still  blossom  every  year  to  his  memory.  Henceforth 
thx)  family  spent  their  summers  here,  and  the  winters 
in  Boston, or  in  travel.  There  were  three  sons  and  three 
daughters,  Francis  W.,  Thomas,  Robert,  who  died  when 
a  child,  !Mary,  afterward  Mrs.  Matthew  Halo  of  Albany, 
Alice  and  Anne.  There  are  now  ten  grandchildren  : 
Mrs.  Hale's  children  are  Elkn,  Matthew, Mary,  Robert 
and  Dorothy,  and  Mr.  Francis  W.  Lee's  are  Mary,  Guy 
Hunter,  Isabella,  Alice  and' Susan. 

A  year  or  so  before  tliis  time  Mr.  Francis  H.  Jackson 
of  Boston,  already  connected  with  the  Port  Henry  Iron 
Company,  had  bought  the  Sisco  farm,  on  the  sliore  of 
the  bay,  about  a  mile  north  of  Hatch's  wharf.  This  was 
a  beautiful  spot,  with  a  wooded  point  enclosing  a  tiny 
bay,  and  commanding  a  wide  \  iew  of  the  lake  to  the 
southward.  Hen^  on  the  point  he  built  his  house,  and 
iu  184:8  completed  one  of  the-tinest  irou  furnaces  ever 
■^kien  upon  the  lake.  It  is  said  to  have  cost  one  hundred 
thoui.and  dollar.-,  and  with  the  well-known  ingratitude 


4.yj  Jiisrom'  of  wksti'OUT 

■^o  ofttMi  found  in  costly  l.iuilJings,  never  vt-tunKHl  to  its 
buiklers  oiif-tontli  of  tlie  ]>vi(.'c.  Mr.  Jackson  called  it 
the  Sisco  furnace,  after  the  natue  of  the  people  who 
hatl  lived  so  lon^  on  the  place,  and  the  little  bay  has 
always  been  called  the  Sisco  bay.  A  dozen  workmen's 
jionses,  a  largo  house  for  the  book-keeper,  offices,  a 
store  and  a. long  row  of  gi;int  coal  kilns,  with  a  wharf 
fcir  the  boat-i  of  the  company,  made  np  a  village  of  per- 
haps a  hundred  souls,  and  it  was  soon  given  the  popu- 
lar name  of  "Jacksonville."  There  was  never  a  post- 
oflicc  there,  but  the  place  had  a  mail-bag  of  its  own. 
The  writer  carno  upon  a  bit  of  liumor  in  a  recent  Bos- 
ton story  called  "A  Family  Affair"  which  will  be  cpiite 
as  well  aj)]Meciated  in  \\'estport  as  it  could  be  in  Bos- 
ton :  "There  are  Jacksons  and  Jacksons.  As  every- 
body knows,  aiany,  pc'ssibly  most  of  those  who  bear 
that  title  might  as  well  have  been  called  Jones  or  Rob- 
inson; on  the  other  hand  J.  am  told  that  certain  Massa- 
chusetts families  of  that  name  will,  on  solicitation,  ad- 
mit it  to  be  th.'ir  belief  that  Eve  was  a  Cabot  and  Adam 
a  Jackson."  ^Ve  may  pride  ourselves  that  it  was  not 
an  ordinary  Jackson,  but  one  of  the  last  named  Gar- 
den-of-Edcn  Jacksons,  of  the  first  families  of  Boston, 
ivhd  gave  the  name  to  Jacksonvil!e-iu-Northwest-Bay. 

Watson  says  :  "The  motive  power  of  the  Sisco  fur- 
nace was  steam,  and  its  prorbicts  pig  iron.  'J'he  or*., 
used  was  chielly  from  tlie  Cheever  bed,  and  ifi  part 
from  a  bed  two  or  three  miles  west  of  the  village  of 
Westpovt,  and  owned  by  the  proprietors  of  the  fur- 
nace."    Th;.-;  liK-ans  the  rv.Hi'e  liill  mine,  iullie  muunt- 


iiJSToiiY  OF  WFSTro/rr  -io.i 

.liii  just  west  of  the  Mouutaiu  Spring  road,  back  of  thf3 
McMiihon  place.  Tins  ore  bed  was  opeued  soon  after 
tbat  at  Xichols  Poud  called  the  Campbell  bed.  The 
ore  was  soon  found  to  be  titanifci-ous,  and  therefore 
not  available  for  use  in  the  furnace,  but  large  quantities 
of  the  Morlah  ore  were  manufactured.  Says  Watson  : 
"In  18-17  Lee  ct  Sherman  effected  a  sale  of  twenty 
thousand  tons  to  F.  11.  Jackso}i  of  the  Siseo  furnace  at 
"Westport.  This  was  the  first  sale  made  of  ore  to  be 
used  in  fuiiiace.-^."  Charles  Hatch,  writing  at  about 
this  time,  say.s  proudly,  "We  now  find  ourselves  situ- 
ated in  a  pleasant  Tillage  of  about  one  thousand  in- 
habitants, plentifull}-  supplied  with  all  the  necessaries 
of  life  and  many  luxuries,  having  now  a  variety  of  fac- 
tories, among  (jthers  a  furnace  which  makes  from 
six  to  nine  tons  of  iron  per  day."  This  must  have  been 
its  maximum  production,  and  one  not  steadil}-  main- 
tained for  the  eight  or  nine  years  in  which  the  furnace 
remained  in  the  ]>ossession  of  Mr.  Jackson.  In  1S57 
the  property  passed  out  of  his  liands,  but  I  believe  that 
the  family  had  returned  to  Boston  before  that  time, 
tiie  house  being  occupied  for  several  years  by  Mr. 
Ralph  A.  Loveland,  who  had  charge  of  the  business. 
Before  this,  ^Ir.  Silas  H.  Witherbee  of  Fort  Henry  was 
manager  aud  Mr.  Victor  C.  Speucer  book-keeper.  Af- 
terward the  property  was  owned  by  George  W.  GoiV, 
who  resided  in  the  village. 

It  was  at  this  period,  not  long  after  the  opening  of 
the  Sisco  furnace,  that  the  old  forge  site  on  the  upper 
J31ae-k  river  Avas  again  built  upon.     This   had    l)ee)i   the 


454  iiisTom'  OF  WL'STroirr 

scene  of  tlie  first  operutious  of  Jonas  ]Mov<:,'an,  botweon 
the  time  of  his  reccivinji^  the  hiiger  pateut  from  the  state 
in  179'J,  and  the  year  1S07.  He  built  his  forge  on  the 
Elizabethtown  side  of  the  river,  "nearly  opposite  the 
Ira  Daniels  farm  house,"  as  J  am  told  by  an  old  resi- 
dent of  the  Black  river  country.  Later  he  sold  the 
forge  to  Jacob  Southwell,  and  not  long  after  tlie  con- 
clusion of  the  v^ar  of  1812  the  property  was  owned  by 
Captain  John  Lobdell.  Barnabas  Myrick  had  also  an 
interest  hoie,  ])roba\)ly  in  partnership  with  Captain 
Lobdell,  and  1  think  ran  a  saw  mill  at  this  phice.  The 
freshet  of  1830  wrought  grt^at  damage,  and  it  is  not 
certain  that  tljere  was  any  business  done  here  at  all 
from  that  time  until  Guy  Meigs''-  came  not  long  pre- 
vious to  1850.  He  rebuilt  the  forge  on  the  old  site, 
^\  ith  a  saw  mill  and  his  own  dwelling  house  on  the  op- 
posite or  Westport  side  of  the  river,  and  here  for  a  time 
he  gave  employujent  to  a  number  of  men,  but  in  one  of 
the  frequent  dei)ressions  in  the  iron  business  he  suf- 
fered considerable  loss,  and  eoncludtd  to  try  his  for- 
tunes once  more  in  the  vrest.  He  left  town  in  1855,  and 
since  then  there  has  been  no  iron    made  at  the  place 

»Guy  Meiifs  came  of  tliat  old  and  honora*>le  Alei^s  family  which  has  supplied 
orficers  to  every  war  ot  the  Uniied  States.  Majar  Return  Jor.uthm  Mfif,'s  wen', 
with  Arnold  to  Ouebcc  in  1775,  and  there  joining-  Montgomery,  participated  in  the 
attack  upon  Quehec,  and  was  taken  prisoner  in  the  failure  of  the  assault.  Guy 
Meigs  (horn  1817,  died  1SS5)  was  th-.-  oldest  son  of  Capl;iin  I.utlier  Meigs,  a  soldier 
of  tlie  war  of  iSii,  and  grandson  of  l^T.j.tinin  Stone  Meigs,  one  of  the  pion- 
eers of  northern  Vermont.  Eight  towiiS  and  one  county,  besides  at  least  two  forts, 
have  been  named  after  members  of  this  -Meigs  family,  and  the  mountain  hamlet  ivn 
the  lonely  couise  of  ti'.e  Black  river  nixy  well  keep  its  title  for  the  sake  of  these 
tt!>^ociat:aoj>. 


JIl STORY  OF  W EST r OUT  435 

tl'.iit  luis  been  called  for  fifty  years  "Meigsville."  Tho 
^a^v  i)n"ll  has  been  in  operation  of  late  years,  o\vnt.'<l  by 
James  E.  Patten. 

lM-10. 

Tou-n  Meeting,'  at  tlio  Ian  of  Williarn  KicLards. 

William  JI.  Cultint,',  Supervisor. 

Freeboru  H.  Pa^^e,  Clerk.  •  ' ;, 

Jason  ]Jrauiau_.  Justice. 

Barton  P.  Hammond,  Collector. 

Aaron  H.  Mack,  Assessor. 

1).  P.  Savre.  Pii^hwav  Commissioaer. 

Aari)n  Clark  and  D.  .Sjanstield  Howard,  Poor  Masters. 

Miios  ^^P.  Sawyei',  Penjatnin  P.  Holcomb.  H.  K.  Smitii. 
Pispectors  of  Election. 

h-a  Downey,  Nathan  Slaii^rhter.  Harry  N.  Cole.  Barton 
P.  Hammond,  A.  C.  Po^rers,  Constables. 

Alvin  Davis,  Scaler  of  Wei^j^hts  and  Measures. 

J'atbmasters. — Thomas  Walton,  Hinkley  Coll,  Samuel 
lioot.  Noel  Merrill.  William  Joiner.  Asa  Loveland,  William 
liichards.  Darius  .slerriam,  James  Marshall,  ^lontgumery 
Pike  Whallon.  Henry  Betts.  Titus  M.  Mitchell  Benjamin 
I  lardy.  Asa  Finney,  David  R.  \Voodruri.  \\'iUiam  Pawrence. 
Harvey  Smith,  Marcus  J.  Hoisinj<ton.  Aiouzo  Slau^rhter, 
Piatt  Sheldon,  Jonathan  Nichols.  John  Ormistoti.  Horace 
<roodspccd,  Francis  Mason,  Orrin  B.  Cronk.  Abran)  Gree- 
iy,  William  C.  West,  Pindjcu  Brown,  Peonard  "Wares,  D. 
M.  Nichols.  John  Stone.  Edwin  Truesdall.  Myron  Chappell. 

VoY  the  tirst  time  we  find  it  recorded  that  voters  were 
challen^'cd  and  obli;L,'ed  to  swear  that  they  were  legal  vo- 
ters in  Westport.  Six  men  were  challenofed  and  took  the 
reijuired  oath:  Electo  Dupree,  John  Miller.  William  Wil- 
son. James  Pi-anard.  Chandler  Dutton,  H.  N.  Tabor. 

Town  Mectini:  adjourned  to  \\.  J.  Person's. 

Noel  Merrill  was  afterward  appointed  Collector  in  placo 
uf  B.  B.  Hammond,  who  had  moved  away. 

This  reminds  us  tliat  this  year  and  the  next  saw  tlie 
departure  of  all  the  family  of  the  Hammonds,  l^eacon 
(iide<m  Haijimond  had  died  iu  1810,  and  his  widow  and 


4:>fj  uisroin'  OF  wkstpout 

eliiUlri'ii  soon  decidod  to  eiui;:;rute  to  tJie  wt'st.  Neigh- 
bors of  theirs  in  the  western  part  of  the  town,  tlie  Xieh- 
ols,  Sloughters  and  Staey's,  with  soujo  others,  took  part 
in  the  general  exodus,  and  they  all  settled  in  or  near 
Camnnche,  Iowa,  on  the  ^Mississippi  river.  This  ruaJe 
a  little  Bai)tist  colony,  and  there  a  new  clun'ch  was 
formed,  containing  between  twenty  and  thirty  original 
members  Jroin  the  Westport  Bai^tist  church. 

Notwithstanding  the  attraction  of  tlie  new  lands  of 
the  west,  which  drew  away  a  large  nuniber  c»f  our  best 
citizens,  young  men  were  coming  in  from  all  directions 
to  take  u])  business  enterprises.  John  C.  Osborne,  a 
^■Qung  Englisliman,  o]>ened  a  harness  shop,  J.  Nelson 
Barton,^  coming  from  Crown  Point,  was  a  carriage  ma- 
ker, Peter  P.  Bacon,  from  St.  Pierre,  P.  Q.,  soon  opened 
a  shoe  sliop,  and  William  Douglass  a  blacksmith  shop. 
Mr.  Osborne  afterward  built  the  large  house  just  north 
of  the  Armor^v.  His  children  were  George,  who  has 
continued  his  father's  business  after  the  death  of 
the  latter,  Maria,  who  married  John  Gregory,  and 
John,  afterward  Governor  of  Wyoming,  and  owner  of 

•One  interesting  fact  about  the  Essex  County  Bartons  is  that  they  are  desctndcJ 
from  one  of  the  Salem  witches— that  is,  from  one  of  the  unfortunate  womt-n  who 
were  accused,  of  witchcraft  at  Salun  in  i7c>S.  Sarali  Cloy>c  was  accustrd, 
tried  and  sentenced  to  be  hun^-,  but  escaped  froui  prison  and  was 
hidden  by  her  friends.  She  had  two  siiters  who  were  hung- for  the  crime  of  witch- 
craft. Her  diughtcr  by  her  first  hush.ind,  Hannah  Brid^'es,  inarried  Samuel  Bar- 
ton, and  tlie  line  co;iies  down  through  Joshua,  Timothy  and  Timothy  Slow  to 
Simon,  who  came  to  Moriah  in  iSii.  Simon  Barton's  wife  was  Olive  Cary,  daugh- 
ter of  John,  and  sixth  in  direct  descent  from  the  orisfinal  immiirrant  John  Carv, 
who  came  of  the  line  of  Sir  Robert  Cary,  Brave  stories  are  told  of  Sir  Robtrl,  hut 
^\e  do  not  love  hitn  as  we  love  ^rent'e  Good  wife  Cloyse,  who  suffered  such  Uitttr 
IH-'.fC'-.ulion;.  at  the  h.\'id>  of  fie  S  ilcin  witi:h  hunters. 


iiisToin'  OF  \vrsT/'()/rr 


457 


large  cattle  rar.clies  in  tliat  statr.  Mr.  EiluarJ  Os- 
Imrno,  brother  of  John  0;^boiue,  Senior,  came  to  AVest- 
]>()rt  later,  after  the  war. 

3Ir.  ]>acon  marrie'l  Louise  Joubtat,  and  their  chib 
(lienvere:  1.  Eliza,  nia)-ried  Corr(t4ius  lUauin^tMH.  2. 
bla,  niai'ried  John  ]McConuick  of  Ticondrro^T.t,  :j. 
I'-inina,  married  Dr.  Charles  Holt,  son  of  Augustus  l*. 
Moll.  I.  iMarie,  married  IlariT  I*.  Sn:ith,  uoav  maua- 
j^i-r  of  the  Westport  Inn.  5.  Osite,  married  Jcdiu  H. 
JiOw,  sou  of  Edwiii  B.  Lou. 

~Mv.  Douglass,  (not,  ]  think,  I'elated  to  the  l'an;il_v  of 
Kbenezer  Douglass,)  married  Marion  Havens,  daughter 
of  Asahel  Ha\eMs.  Their  family  rectad  is  a  mournful 
one  of  early  deaths.  Clarence  died  as  a  child,  James 
and  Walter  in  their  teens.  Alice  iiiarried  Orcelius 
Olds,  Chu-ii  married  Will  Cross,  and  Lottie  mariieil 
A\'ill  Ciirey.,  and  all  died  young.  'J'hree  sons,  Carlos, 
Will  and  Ben,  ore  .stilJ  livijig  in  11k-  west,  with  thuir 
families. 

This  year  and  the  next  M)-.  George  ^^^  (Jlotl^'  was 
Mcmbei-  of  Assembly.  To  Mr.  Goil' is  giveii  the  credit 
of  etl'ecting  .the  uev.-  division  V;etweeu  We.-tport  anul 
Morrah^  by  "which  -the  southern  boundary  of  Gillijand's 
lit-ssboro  was  made  the  southern  bouuda,ry  of  the  town. 
This -ehangc  gave  the  Cheever  ore  bed,  then  just  devel- 
oping in  importance,  t(»  Mi»riah.  Aaron  lb  31ack  was 
sherifi' of  the  count}-  b;r  this  i.ind  the  iuo  following 
years. 

lu  1819  were  built  the  first  Vermont  railroads,  run- 
-•liu'r  north  and  ^outb  tUroui-'h    the   stati.-.   on   H-ach  siib- 


4oS  Hisroh'Y  OF  WEsrroirr 

of  tlio  Green  luountaius.  Tlius  the  Cli.-iaiplaiu  valley 
first  oclioed  to  tljo  shriek  of  the  iron  horse,  and  thr 
dwellers  on  the  wesu-rn  shore  tirst  saw  the  white  {nilT  of 
steam  against  the  inountains  as  they  looked  across  the 
lake.  Not  for  twenty-seven  years  did  we  have  a  rail- 
road on  this  side  of  the  lake  which  Meut  through  froiii 
Albany  to  Montreal. 

In  1S-J1>  v.as^or'.;anizeil  the  first  L'ssox  County  Agri- 
cultural .Society,  in  Keeseville,  wliere  the  first  fair  w;i?; 
-  held.  From  1850  to  ISGo  the  annual  fair  was  held  in 
Elizabethtown,  and  since  then  it  has  been  held  in  West- 
port.  This  is  also  the  year  in  which  a  most  remarka- 
ble figure  a})peared  in  Essex  county,  and  was  frequently 
seen  at  the  county  fair  for  the  next  five  or  six  vears, 
driving  t\ll  the  way  from  the  high  mountain  plateau  of 
North  Elba  tine  blooded  cattle  for  exhibitiou.  The  re- 
port of  the  Society  for  1850  refers  to  "a  number  (jf  very 
choice  and  beautiful  Devons  from  the  herds  of  Mr.  John 
]-5)(»\vn,  residing  in  one  of  our  mo.->t  remote  and  secludeil 
towns."  'ihis  v/as  n.jn*  other  than  'John  Erov.ii  of 
Ossawatomie,"  who  died  ten  yeai's  afterward  at  Har- 
per's Ferry.  He  ^vas  often  seeu  in  Westport,  going 
and  coming  on  his  many  journeys,  and  was  looked  U])oii. 
as  an  eccentric  person  with  an  absurd  idea  of  estaltlish- 
ing  a  colony  of  free  negroes  iin.  tlie  free/ing.  climate  oi 
^orth  Elba,. 


/ 


insToin'  OF  ]VKSTrouT  450 

i.sr)(). 

Town  Mcetiiij,'  belci  at  the  ]un  of  Fi.  J.  Persou's. 

Hal])h  A  Lovcland.  Sii[ierv;sor. 

P.artou  B.  Richards.  Clerk. 

.David  S.  MeLeod,  Justice. 

Andrew  Frisbie.  JoLiu  II.  r>ou  and  John  1v.  .Merrian), 
Asse.s.-sors. 

Noel  Merrill,  Ct>llector. 

S.  \V.  Cole,  Siiporiutendent  of  Coininou  Schools. 

Samuel  Root,  Hit^hway  Commissioner. 

D.  M.  Howard.  L.  \V.' Pollard.  Poor  Musters. 

Aaron  Clark.  \\  11.  Sayre.  David  R.  Woodrurt'.  Inspec- 
tors of  I'^lei-tlon. 

Noel  Merrill.  J.  F.  Whitney.  Ira  Dowuey,  D.  M.  Hov/jrd. 
1>.  B.  Stacy,  Constables. 

Alvin  Davis.  Sealer  of  Weights  and  Measures. 

Road  district  No.  1  dropi.jcd.  since  it^  ten-itury  now  be- 
in  mrs  to  Moriab. 

Pathma.sters.— Hinkley  Coll.  Benjamin  Warren.  Andrew 
Frisl)ie,  Lorrin  Cole,  A.sa  Loveland".  William  S'lail.  Darius 
-Merriam.  James  Marshall.  Cvrus  Royee.  Henry  Betts  A- 
K.  Wadhams.  Benjamiii  Warren,  Syl\'ester  Youni/.  Jared 
iioodall,  William  Laurence,  Johnson  Hill,  Marcus  J.  Hoi.->- 
inirton.  Aloui'-o  Slaughter,  Dennis  Person,  Ed  wa'.'d  Harper, 
J.>hn  Orm.iston.  Orsoc  Stockwell.  Lee  Prouty,  AbraniSher- 
niaji.  William  Bennett.- Joel  B.  Finney,  Depondance  Nich- 
ols. John  Stone.  Edwin  Trusdall,  Jol/n  Mdiei-. 

Aaron  B.  Mack  havini^  been  elected  SheriR  of  the  County, 
rtsi^'ued  his  otl.'ce  as  Assess')r. 

lu  1850  the  towuship  uuinV>c.reil  2J'52  in  population, 
u  number  never  siuce  equaled.  The  furnace  at  Jaek- 
si-)nville  employeLl  iriaoy  men  iu  every  capacity,  ;inJ  all 
through  the  back  country  v.ooil  cutters  had  couje  iii  t<> 
•cut  and  drav.-  the  wood  for  its  use.  All  kin  Is  of  Inisi- 
iiess  ]>n>spered.  D.  L.  Allen  esteuded  his  wharf  ;i 
liuudred  feet  farther  into  the  lake  to  aecouiuiodate  thc 
increaseJ  shipping,  and'  the  chances  are  that  if  the 
place  had  been  to  name  a<zaiu  at  this  time  it  would  lune 
.''cou  .Sou.jctb!.UL'-or-otJi..;r-opolis. 


/ 


400  J  [[STORY  OF  ]yj:sT/'0[rr 

Xow  Jenny  Liml  was  sirigiijg  i)i  Now  York,  and  lier 
fame  drew  a  number  of  Westport  pei')ple  to  the  citj-  to 
liear  ber.  I  know  the  name  of  but  one  who  went  tliron^di 
hike,  canal  and  river,  on  a  packet  boat,  to  the  metrop- 
olis, and  that  one  was  Mr?.  Miles  M'F.  Sawyer,  who 
visited  at  Dr.  Eauuey's  and  came  back  with  many  a 
traveler's  tale  aiul  notes  uj^ou  the  hdesfc  fashious.  Tijeu 
women  wore  great  hoops,  over.-[H'e;id  with  voluniiuous 
gathered  skirts,  tight  bodices  with  belts,  large  fiowiitg 
sieeves.ofteu  with  lace  or  embroidery  under-sleeves,  and 
wide  fiat  collars  of  lace  or  neodle-work  which  lay 
Hat  ujion  their  shoulders,  encircling  the  base  of  the 
neck.  Tiie  shoulder  seams  of  the  bodices  were  uncon- 
scionably long,  and  the  hair  was  worn  coa)bed 
smoothly  down  over  the  ears  and  coiled  in  a  knot  at  tlie 
back,  the  ideal  of  perfection  being  a  satiu-smooth  sur- 
face, without  a  stray  hair  floating.  The  bonnets  v.ere 
not  so  large  as  those  worn  in  the  thirties,  but  were  still 
often  "poke"  in  shaj<e,  of  the  kind  called  "cottage  bon- 
net.'' And  vei-y  nic<*  oar  grandmothers  looked  in  hoops 
and  mantilla,  with  black  mitts  covering  all  but  the  lin- 
gers of  their  hands,  as  they  sailed  up  the  church  aisle 
of  a  Sunday.  It  t  jok  both  grace  and  genius  to  manage 
a  hoop  well,  and  get  it  gracefully  througli  narrow  doors, 
l>ut  surely  nothing  dis[)layed  a  rich  dress  fabric  to  bet- 
\ter  advantage.  At  this  time  changeable  silks  were  much 
in  favor,  and  the  shimmering  breadths,  billowing  out 
from  a  ^lendcr  waist,  were  very  pretty.  When  Mar- 
garet Angier  married  Harvey  Pierce  she  had  a  red  and 
grtcu  chaugeabh-  .-,illv  for  a   \vijd'_liug  ^ir^ss,   and  it   was 


/ 


JIISTORY  OF   WKSTPORT  401 

oarofully  laid  away  to  bo  shown  to  tlir  geiuM'ations 
following,  My  grandmother  used  to  wear  a  wide-flow- 
ing dress  made  of  what  they  called  "Mexican  grena- 
dine," a  soft  gray  ground  with  green  and  puiph' flowers, 
and  over  this  she  spread  a  niantilki  of  changeuhle  h\\\o 
and  green  silk,  triomied  with  "milliner's  fv>lds"  c>i  the 
same,  laid  on  with  the  most  exquisite  stitches.  The 
earliest  daguerreotypes  show  many  of  these  cc^stumes. 

1853. 

Town  Mcetini^  at  the  Inn  of  IT.  J.  Person's. 

BoDJatnin  W'urren,  Super'viscr. 

Barton  B.  i-liebards,  Clerk. 

William  D.  Holcomb,  Justice. 

John  L.  Mcrriam.  Assessor. 

Aaron  Clark,  Collector. 

Jared  Goodale,  Highway  Coauuissioucr. 

D.  M.  Howard  and  L.  \V.  Pollard,  Overseers  of  the  Poor. 

Benjamin  V.  Holcomb.  David  S.  McLeod,  Cyrus  \V. 
liicbards.  Inspectors  of  Election. 

Ira  Downev,  Perrin  J.  Aini'cr,  Richaid  Brown.  Aaron 
Clark,  Dennis  B.  Stacy,  Constables. 

Alvin  Davis,  Sealer  of  Wei.s^bts  and  Measures. 

Parliinasters.-  Hinkley  Coll,  B.  I.  Warren.  i-Teury  Vv\^- 
bie.  A.  P.  Cole.  Asa  Loveiaud.  William  Mclutvre,  Joseph 
.hunes.  Saunel  Anderson,  Henry  Boyce,  Henry  Belts, 
I'^lijah  WriLfht,  Benjamin  Hardy,  Sylvester  Young,  Rus- 
seil  Wooc^rutY,  Royal  Storrs.  Johnson  Hill,  Jonathan  Nich- 
ols, Leonard  Averv.  YLW  Wood.  Warren  Pooler,  Alvin 
I3urt.  Orson  Stock  well,  Luman  Hubbard.  Titus  Sherman, 
>^tevou  Jackwofth.  Leonai-d  Taylor,  Charles  Vaughan. 
Orrin  Skinner,  James  FortuiK\  Kdward  Tru.sdaie,  John 
•Miller. 

Two  men  challenged.  Loreuz.)  B.  Nichols  and  Krastus 
Huntley. 

\'oted  to  raise  .^l.'iO.Olj  for  support  of  the  poor. 

it  is  hard  to  tell  from  the  meagre  accounts  left  of  the 
existence  of  tlie  Essex   Countv  Ae.-ideniv,   liow  Ion:;   it 


/ 


■i02  IllSTOh'Y  OF  WLSTJ'Oirr 

reiDaiiHMl  tlie  L.-adin-"  schoc)!  in  the  county,  but  we  are. 
inclincil  to  tliink  that  its  tlrsl.  tlays  were  jx'ihaj^s  its  l.»est, 
at  least  so  far  as  the  eilneatiou  of  the  older  class  of 
academic  students  is  cotieenied.  About  1850  or  ISol 
there  were  young  i)eo[)le  sent  aAvay  to  private  boardini: 
schocfls  in  Vermont,  as  Phebe  and  Piatt  Sawyer  were 
sent  tu  Jjakerstield,  aiid  a  little  later  their  brother  li'v- 
iug  was  Heiit  to  the  school  in  Fairfax,  Vt.  Miss  W'il- 
-lard's  famous  scJiool  for  girls  in  Troy  was  uo  longer 
open,  Miss  Willard,  I  think,  being  engaged  in  visiting 
other  female  seminaries,  both  uorth  and  south,  and  lec- 
turing upon  C'ducation.  Some  of  the  Westport  youtli 
were  sent  to  the  Academy  at  Keeseville,  and  ther-' 
Alonzo  Alden  studied  from  1851  to  1S53.  It  was  not 
uncommon  for  the  girls  to  be  sent  to  the  convent  sehotjls 
in  Montreal,  in  spite  of  the  rigid  Protestantism  Mhich 
prevailed,  for  a  ceit;iin  dainty  tlnish  -avA  demureness 
of  manner  wliich  was  ac(piired  there,  together  with  tli-' 
,.incomparal>le  needle-work  which  was. taught. 

Looking  ovei-  a  sheaf  of  old  letters,  1  tind  one  from 
Klias  Sturtovaut  to,  his  son  John  in  Gasport,  dated, 
Westport,  April  7,  iSol,  in  which  he  gives  this,  with 
other  bits  ot  new.-.  :  "Mr.  Hunter  has  built  a  steam  saw- 
mill at  Piock  Harbour  and  s<.)ld  it  to  Moses  Felt  fur 
^5000  with  oOO- acres  of  land."  It  was  this  mill  which 
ate  away  all  the  magniticent  first-growth  pine  of  North 
Sh(;re,  which  was  rafted  away  by  v.ater.  The  forest 
which  now.  covers  it  is.  1  a.av  told,  all  a  second,  jrrowtb. 


iiisToin'  OF  wicsrroirr  .    4<;3 

Town  Moctiii'^r  at  11.  J.  Persuu  s. 

I>iiniel  ^\'.    Mra!!i;ui.  SniH'fvi.si.i!-. 

I^arton  R.  Kicluifds.  Clerk. 

Pbiueas  N.  Hartv\'eiLSuperiiiti'U(.ieat()f  ('otiinion  ScbDoLs. 

.\<a  Aikcn.-^  iind  (?_vriis  \V.  lliclujrds,  .Justices. 

llarrs  J.  Person.  Assessor.  ■ 

William  Piichards.  Highway  Coinniissionor. 

Dennis  B.  Stac>-.  Collector. 

I'cter  F»M-ris  and  Renjaniin  P.  flMlcimh.  Pnw  Mastevs. 

Miles  M'P.  Sawyer.  David  K.  W'oudiull  vnd  i''fi'oborti 
II.  Paj^e.  iDspertors. 

Dennis  B.  ^taey.  Ira  Downey,  Aaron  Clark,  liiehard 
ProwD.  J^ew  \V.  Pollard.  Constables. 

il.-nry  H.  Holeoiub,  Sealer  of  \Vei<;Ltsand  Measures. 

i'atuniaster.^.  — Hinkley  Coll.  Israel  Pattis^n,  Arc-liibald 
Pattison,  Aucjustus  Flolt.  Asa  Lo.velaud.  William  Melntyre. 
Darius  Merriam.  Janjes  Marsiiall.  Klijab  Anjjier.  Ceori/e 
W.  Stiirti'vaut,  Jasiju  Praman.  ,Iue!  Wliitiu'y.  Ar/.i  J-'inufy, 
.\rteinas  Martvreli.  Joshua  Sla.uLdUer.  Johnson  Mill.  John 
P.  Nichols.  Asa  Smith.  Piatt  Sdeldon,  Horace  Atwood. 
JmIid  Orniston.  Joseph  Atwo.iJ.  Julius  Pen-is.  Orren 
<'i-onk.  Stoven  Jackworth.  Orreii  Tavlor.  Tieonard  Wares, 
J^  M.  Nietjols.  John  Stonr.  KJu-rd  Trucsdalo.  John 
•Mill^-i-. 

.Adjourned  to  th.'  !  im  df  Williani  Richards. 

AVhatever.  the  eariy  history  of  Fice  ]\ias<.iirv  in 
^Vest{)ort.  it  is  certain  tliat  the  liresent  lodnc  was  eslali- 
lislied  ill  18o"2  hy  reconiiueiKlati<ui  of  Morniiif;;  Bun 
P>a-e.  Xo.  JJ:>,  which  had  bcfu  estxhlishod  in  Port 
lliury  four  years  before.  .At  this  time  \\'e>;tiM>rt  was 
in  tlie  iiiL,'h  tide  of  jij'osjierity.  the  centre  and  source  of 
wliich  was  the  iron  l)usitie.ss  and  the  fine  new  Sisco 
lurnace,  therefore  it  scetned  .apiiropviate  to  lecni^nize 
tids  iu  the  name  of  the  new  halge,  and  it  was  called 
Si.>co  L()d;j;e,  Xo.  '2~)\i.  The  lirst  otUi-ers  were  («eorf,M^ 
\I.  Pdi.ni."  W.  M.;  John  I'.owers,  S.  W.;  Charles 
}y  Hatch.  J.    W.      Ovoyi/^  Ji     JJ.Ijin.,  had  beeJi  oue  oltLn- 


y* 


^4tji  iJisTiiiry  OF  wi:srroirr 

lir.st  OiHcors  iA  tlio  PdiI  llonry  lo.l^c%  beiii'.;  J.  \s.  in 
18:t8  and  W.  ^l.  in  1849,  thorefcji.'  it  would  seem  tlial 
lie  liiul  moveil  into  AYestport  not  long  before  this  time. 
Tbe  lodge  moetiugs  were  held  here  only  four  years 
after  organization,  deoliuiuj];  with  the  decline  and  fall  of 
the  Sisoo  furnace  after  which  it  had  been  named,  since 
Jackson's  failure  occurred  in  18o7,  and  the  lodge  meet- 
ings \\orc  held  in  Whalloijsburgh  from  ISoG  to  1870. 
Up  to  that  time  the  blasters  had  been  George  H.  Blinn, 
'Asa  V.  Hammond  of  Wadhams  ^lilLs,  Lewis  Cady  of 
Whallonsburgh,  Jojm  Burt,  Jr.,  of  Essex,  Willett  K. 
Ilogers  of  Whallonsburgjj,  Eli  W.  Eogers  of  Whallons- 
burgh,  and  Philetus  1).  Merriam,  W'est}>oit.  In  1870 
the  meetings  i>egau  to  be  held  in  AVcstport  again,  where 
thG3'  have  been  held  ever  since,  the  successive  Masters 
being  in  every  case  Westport  meii.  John  J.  Greeley 
has  held  the  otiice,  not  contiuuou.sly,  for  over  fifte^Ml 
years,  varied  by  occasional  terms  of  .service  from  George 
C.  Osborne,  Henry  I.  Stone  and  Xelsoii  J.  Gibbs. 

The  Mason's  hall  was  in  the  second  story  of  the  build- 
ing on  the  corner  oi'  \Yashingtou  and  Main,  (formerly 
occupitxl  as  the  printing  otKce  of  the  Westport  news- 
paper,; until  the  burning  of  the  whole  block,  Aug.  lotli,. 
187 (i  When  tlu>  block  was  rebuilt,,  the  Masons  owned 
the  northern  third,  renting  tlie- lower  floor  and  occupy- 
ing the  second  ttf>or  sw  a  hall.  A  new  charter  w^as 
granted  Junie  27th,  1877,  and  on  Septeml>or  2Gth  the 
new  iiall  wa-s  iledicated.  About  tive  hundre<l  ]Mason^ 
were  piesc^it  on  thr.t  occasion,  from  lodges  on  l)otl: 
si<.lcs.    ol!   tl'jc    l.i-ke,    W-ilIl    ili>;    iJe    ^i.ito    Commandei:\ 


jiiSTonr  OF  wKsrroirr  ■  46.% 

Kiiigiit.s  Teuiplar  of  rialtsburgh,  tlio  Knii:-lits  Templar 
of  Barliugton,  aocompaDied  by  the  Queen  City  baiul. 
The  wives  of  tlie  Masous  of  Sisco  Lodge  provided  re- 
freshments, and  the  social  occasion  was  a  great  success. 
Afterward,  when  the  Westport  Inn  was  opened,  this 
block  was  sold,  and  the  lodge  moved  once  more,  to  the 
rooms  iu  the  flat  over  the  post  ofHee,  which  it  still  oc- 
cupies. Lodge-meetiiigs  are  held  ou  the  fast  and  third 
.Saturdays  of  the  month. 

The  name  of  Augustus  Holt  in  the  tov.'n  records  re-^ 
minds  us  that  Aiva  Holt  had  nov,-  come  from  Keeue, 
and  was  living  iu  tlie  stone  house  at  the  forks  of  the 
road  south  of  the  village,  formerly  occu}>ied  by  the 
Jxogors  family.  Alva  Holt  had  four  sons,  Charles  Holt 
of  Keeue,  Snath  Holt  of  ^\'illsboro,  Henry  Holt  of  Bo- 
ijuet,  and  Augustus,  who  is  still  living  in  Westport, 
having  been  suj^ervisor  of  the  t-owm  His  daughter 
<,^arrie  is  now  Mrs.  Shelley,  of  Xev>'  York,  and  his  son, 
Charles,  has  practiced  dentistry  'u\  his  native  place  for 
several  years.  Mrs.  Jleubtn  J.  lugalls  is  a  daughter  of 
Alva  Holt 


1853. 

Towu  ikvtin<;rat  K.  J.  Person's. 
l\<ilpb  A.  Lo\elaud,  Supervisur, 
Hira^n  II.  Downey.  Clerk. 
Jasou  Jiramau.  Justice. 
Archibald  I'attis(ju,  Assessor. 
Samuel  Rr>ot.  tliijhway  Cotnmisslouer. 
Peter  Ferris  and  LutLer  Ao^ier.  Poor  Masters. 
William  Mclntyrc.  William   Doui^iass,   WiUiam  P.   Mer- 
•  LMti.  Ju->]...Lt:.-rs  of  Elf'tJc:. 


4r,G  in  ST  our  OF  w/jsT/'o/rr 

Dennis  B.  Stacy,  Ira  TJuwiicy.  Kichard  Brown,  Harry 
N.  Cole.  Constables. 

Pathmaster.s.  — Alpheus  Stoue.  Israel  I'attisou.  Hira!!! 
Cole,  S.  Wlioatou  Cole,  Jeremiah  Fliini.  John  flreeiey. 
Joseph  James,  Merlin  Angier,  Luther  Arjo-iei-.  Geor^^e  W. 
Stuvtovaiit,  J.  R.  Whitney.  Joel  Whitney,  B.  F.  Spragae, 
D.  R.  WoodrutT,  Samncl  Storrs.  Harvey  Smith,  Barney 
Boyle.  Vv'illiauj  Downey,  Eli  Wood.  Eleazer  Welch,  Jesse 
Sherman,  Solomon  Slockwell,  Julius  Ferris,  Moses  Felt. 
Franklin  Bennett,  Leonard  Ware,  D.  N.  Nichols,  Jame.s 
Fortune.  Edward  Trnesdale.  fjiram  iinward. 

Town  Meeting  adjourned  to  the  Innof  William  Richards. 

This  year  was  built  tlie  steamboat  Canada,  the  larg 
est  yet  built  on  the  lake,  2G0  feet  loug,  30  feet  wide  and 
lO.l  feet  deep,  witli  a  speed  of  17  miles  an  hour.  Capt. 
S.  Ii.  Foster  stood  on  her  deck,  and  as  sbe  ran  until 
]S70,  njan}- of  us  can  remember  lier  rip;ht  well  as  she 
came  grandly  to  the  wharf  every  day  in  summer,  the 
deliglit  of  all  the  youthful  population  to  whom  the  ar- 
rival of  the  line  boats,  and  their  discbarge  of  freight 
and  passengers,  will  abvays  be  a  most  interesting  event. 


Town  .Meering  held  at  the  Inn  of  \ViHiam  Richards. 

Failph  A.  Loveland,  Supervisor. 

Freetjoru  II.  Page,  Clerk. 

John  F-Jateh  Ia)w,  Justice. 

(iuy  Stevens,  Collector. 

D.  L.  Allen  and  Calviu  Fisher.  Assessors. 

Elijah  Wright.  Highwav  Corn(nissioner. 

Abram  .^b  Olds,  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools. 

Titus  M.  Mitchell  and  William  Mclutyre,  Poor  Master.s, 

Flarry  N.  C(.)le,  Joel  F.  Whitney.  Phirvey  Pierce,  Inspee 
tors  of  Election. 

Guy  Stevens,  B.  F.  Holcoml.).  .1.  F.  Whitney,  Tru  Downev 
John'Mitchell,  Constaolcs. 

Edwin  R.  Person,  Sealer  tif  Weii.rhts  and  Measures. 


lusTunv  OF  WKSTi'Oirr  407 

The  Ili^'lr.vay  Commissioner  rejtorts  that  it  will  he  iioe- 
»-.ss:ify  to  raise  siidO.UD  the  present  year. 

Patlitnasters. — Alpheus  Stone,  Heury  Iv  ^Vurrl.■n.  Arch- 
ibald Patterson.  Harry  X.  Cole.  John  Mitchell,  Williaiti 
Mclntyre,  P.  D.  Merriam,  James  Marshall,  Luther  Angler, 
(reorcfe  W.  Sturtevaut,  liCvi  Cross.  Cicero  Sayre,  V>.  T. 
Spraf^vi"',  David  R.  WoodrulT.  Calvin  Pratt,  Harvey  Smith, 
Asahel  Havens,  Ijeonard  Avery.  Kli  Wc^od.  Eleazar  Welch, 
John  Ortniston,  Ira  Allen,  L^e  Prouty,  Titus  Sherman, 
<ieortro  Bennett,  WillardHai-tvvell.  George  Vauc^han.  James 
l-'ortune,  f^dward  Truesdale.  Edwin  Thompson. 

Adjourned  to  tlie  luu  of  H.  J.  Person. 

Phineas  N.  HartweU  resigned  the  oflice  of  Si;peiintend- 
'Mit  oi  Common  Schools  and  Abrana  Marshall  Olds  u-as  ap- 
pointed in  his  place. 

Survey  of  road  to  Youug"s  J^ay.  •'Beginning  on  the 
eastern  boundary  of  the  highv.ay  leading  from  Wcst[)Ort  to 
Archibald  Patterson's  thirty-eight  links  northerly  from 
the  south  corner  of  Andrew  Frisbie's  I'arni,  to  tlie  lake 
shore."     J.  K.  French,  Surveyor. 

'^IMii.s    year  Jan^es  A.   Alien  bought  the  southeru    or 

Hatch  wliavf,  ami  for  about  tvi-euty-live   years  either  of 

our  jniuoipal  wharves  might  be  spoken  of  as  ''Alleu'.s 

wharf,"  since  D.  L.  .Alh^u  had   owned   tlie   northern  or 

Doughi.ss  wharf  since  1845.     The  Hatch  wharf  was  sold 

to  C'apt.  Samuel  Price  in  1879,  and  then  to  David  Clark, 

wlio    now  owns  it.     The  Douglass  wharf  was  sold   to 

Daniel  F.  Payne  in  1880,  and  is  still  in  his  possession, 

1855. 

Town  Me<'ting  at  the  Inn  of  H.  J.  Person's. 

Cepnas  Bradley.  Supervis/jr. 

ikMijamiu  F.  Ihjlconib.  Clerk. 

Miles  M'F.  Sawyer,  Justice. 

William  L.  Wadhanis.  Assessor. 

Danifl  M.  Howard.  Highway  Commissioner. 

William  McHityre  and  Artemas  Hai-twL-U.  Poor  Masters, 

Lori'uzo  (iibbs,  Hiukley  Coil.  Dan    W.    Braman,   Jnspec- 


n->.  ...f  i: 


s 


4GS  HISTORY  OF  \Vl\STPOIiT 

'  Iru  Henderiion,  Collector. 

Horace  Buruos.  Joel  F.  Whitney.  Ira  ITonderson,  Alvii) 
Davis,  Ricbaril  IJrovvn,  Coostiioles. 

Pathmaster.s. — Alpbeus  Stoue.  Henry  E.  Warren.  Levi 
F'-isbio,  Isaai-  T).  Lyon,  .Tnuatbao  [Tolcomb,  D.  L  Allen. 
Josepb  James,  James  Marshall.  Newell  Kcou-lion.  Georifo 
W.  Sturtevaiit,  Elijah  Wrij„'ht,  Josepb  E.  Siniib,  Sylvester 
Young,  Aostin  Biuelow,  Howard  H.  Farnsworth.  Harvey 
Smith.  Asahel  Htivons,  x\sa  Smith,  Albert  Carpenter,  Al- 
vin  Peasley.  F.  13.  Howard,  John  McCouley,  Lee  Prouty, 
Cyrus  Koyce,  Leonard  Taylor,  William  Pierce,  Geor^'c 
Vau^rbao,  Jarr.es  Fortune.  Edward  Truesdell,  Edwin 
Tiuimpsou. 

AlvaS.  Holl  was  appointed  Pathniaster  in  the  place  of 
Isaac  D.  Lyon. 

Road  district  No.  26  was  newly  formed,  and  began  "at 
the  west  line  of  the  lot  of  Juleazer  U'elch.  and  runuiuu:  west 
to  the  west  lino  of  the  land  of  William  P.  and  Philetus  D. 
iVJerriam."     P.  D.  Merriam  was  path'naster  of  ihe  district. 

Tliis  means  a  new  roatl  distiiot  in  the  XroD  Ore  Tract, 

on  the  road  to  Seventy-five,  where  W.  P.  A:  P.   D.   Mer- 

liain  had  their  coal  kilns,  and  where  the  trail  went  in  to 

the  ore  bed  at  Nichols  Poud,  jvist  now  beginning  to  be 


road  out  to  the  highway,  as  an  outlet  for  their  ore  and 
an  inlet  for  their  miniug  sup]ib'es  and  macliiuery. 

Another  tragedy  upon  the  water.  Four  young  men 
came  up  the  lake  from  Montreal  in  a  pleasure  yacht. 
Two  of  them  v.ere  brothers  natiied  ^Yebster,  relatives 
of  the  Ferrises,  and  of  the  third  wife  of  Judge  Charles 
Hatch.  One  day,  in  November,  John  Ferris  and  his 
son  Peter  joined  the  jiarty  in  the  yaclit,  and  they  sailed 
southward.  Near  Crciwu  Point  the  boat  was. upset,  and 
the  six  men  clung  to  the  boat  sides  and  rigging  and 
floated  about,  calling  for  help,  until  completely   chillecl 


S 


HISTORY  OF  WEST  PORT  460 

ami  e^vh:luste'-l.  One  by  oijO  the  four  young  niou  from 
.Montreal  lost  each  his  hold  and  sunk  from  sic^ht.  John 
I'erris  was  au  older  man  and  a  Inirdier,  and  hisstrongtli 
held  out  until  helji  arrived.*  Peter  Ferris  was  rescued 
in  an  nncousciou-.  condition,  only  saved  by  tlie  singular 
fact  that  the  fingers  of  one  of  his  hands  were  stiffened, 
from  the  effects  of  a  scalding  in  infancy,  so  that  he  had 
n<j  power  to  straighten  them.  This  hand  was  hooked 
over  a  rope  or  some  part  of  the  boat  and  held  him  there 
after  he  became  insensible. 

After  3Ir.  Peter  Ferj-is  died  I  was  permitted  to  look 
over  some  of  his  papers,  and  among  them  there  was 
such  a  pathetic  letter  from  the  father  of  the  two  young 
^Yebsters  who  were  drowned,  written  to  John  Ferris 
immediately  after.  In  it  he  says,  "I  sincerely  thank 
God  that  he  has  spared  you  your  ouly  son,  although 
we  have  lost  all  of  ours," — a  resignation,  it  seemed  to 
me,  niore  piteous  than  the  most  clamorous  grief. 

It  w  ould  seem  froiji  the  fact  there  had  been  no  camp 
meeting  held  in  town  for  eleven  years  that  these  out- 
door gatherings  for  religious  exercises  had  fallen  some- 
what into  disfavor.  Luxury  and  refinement  of  living 
had  greatly  increased  since  the  eaidy  da}s  of   immense 


♦One  not  accustomed  to  our  waters  will  find  it  hard  to  realize  the  thill  of  the  icy 
waves  Af  November.  Fresh  water  has  not  tlie  buoyancy  of  salt  water,  and  i^  is 
more  difiicuit  to  swim  or  to  float  in  it  on  that  account.  Its  etfcct  is  also  more  encr- 
V  itin^.  A  few  summers  ajjo  a  younjj;  lady  ac  Kock  Harb  jr  swam  across  the  lake 
from  Basin  Harbor  to  Cr\limily  Point,  a  distance  of  one  mile  and  twenty  reds 
This  was  a  much  more  difficult  feat  than  may  appear  to  a  person  accustomed  only 
to  salt  water.  It  was  accomplished  in  safety,  but  followed  by  alarminjj  chills  and 
exhaustion.  If  we  have  not  the  dangers  of  the  surf  and  the  undertow,  neitlicr 
have  we  the  exhilaration  of  the  ocean  waves. 


s 


470  IlISTunV  OF  \\'/:STJ'ORT 

fitteiidaiicc  at  can)])  ineetiDgs,  and  drmbtlcssj  a  genora- 
tiou  bad  arisen  which  would  ii'jt  brave  the  discomfort 
of  primitive  camp  life,  in  al!  we.tthers,  for  the  >;ake  of 
preaching  which  might  as  well  be  heard,  perhaps,  in- 
side their  commodious  churches.  Nevertheless,  this 
year  a  camp  meeting  was  hold,  not  as  before  near  the 
lake  shore,  but  in  the  northei'n  part  of  the  town,  on  land 
of  Frank  Bennett's,  west  of  V\'adhams  Mills.  And  these 
meetings -were  no  longer  representative  of  all  denomi- 
nations, as  in  the  early  days,  bat  now  belonged  almost 
entirely  to  the  M.  E.  church. 

In  Josepli  Cook's  histor}-  of  Ticonderoga  Ave  find 
that  the  first  mower  in  that  town,  which  was  also  the 
first  in  the  Champlaiu  valley,  was  used  in  June  of  183;"). 
I  am  inclined  to  think  that  none  were  usediu  Westport 
until  two  years  later. 

1850. 

Town  Meeting  at  the  Inn  of  11.  J.  rcrsou's. 

Cephas  Bradley.  Supervisor. 

Dau  S.  Cuttiuii',  Clerk. 

AVilliam  F.  Cbattertou.  and  I'deLard  C.  Gardner,  Justices. 

David  L.  Allen.  Assessor. 

Victor  C.  S})eneer.  Superintendent  of  Schools. 

Guv  Stevens.  C'.ii lector. 

Moses  Coll,  Ilitrhway  Commissiouer. 

Artenws  Ffaitwell  and  Orrin  B.  Howard.  Overseers  ot" 
the  Po<jr. 

Oran£re  Gibbs,  Philetus  D.  Morriam.  James  \V.  Eddy. 
Inspectors  of  Election. 

Guy  Stevens.  Horace  Barnes.  Hitd-:ley  Coll.  Aaron  Peas- 
ley.  Thomas  Dickerson,  Constables. 

These  entries  in  the  town  bo<">k  are  certilied  t.>  liy  three 
Justices,  John  H.  Low.  Miles  M"F.  Sawyerancl  Jaso^  Bra- 
man. 

Pathrnasters. — William  Stevenson.  Samuel  floot.  Peter 
Ferris.  Asa  Ivinnev,  Charles  \V.  Holcoinb.   U'illiat.r.  Mela- 


S 


HISTORY  OF  WE  ST  PORT  471 

fyrt\  ]')ari'J.s  Mciriam,  Jatnes  Mnrsliall,  Cynis  Itox  c-o. 
<ie<n-cri'  ^V.  Sturtovant.  Doit  \V.  Howard,  .]os(:'[)!i  Iv  Smith, 
.\u«:ustim  Hill.  David  R.  WoodrutV,  Calvin  Fishor.  Mont- 
ravill  Hill,  Marcus  iloisingtoa,  Asa.  Smith,  J)ainel  M.  How- 
ard, Aaron  [N>asley.  Alvin  Burtt,  Jobu  McConley,  Jr.. 
Luman  flubhard,  Jonathan  IJraisted.  John  E.  Smith, 
Fi'iitiklin  BiMjuett.  William  Pierce.  Samuel  Pierce,  James 
I'ortuno,  Kdward  Truosdale,  l'>lwia  Thompson. 

Asa  Kiuuey  haJ  just  come  in  from  J.iy.  His  father 
\va8  J<tsi;iliKiiiuey,'i  Eevolntiouinry  soldier  iu  Coniiecli- 
cut,  nud  Asa  Kinney  liad  fought  in  the  battle  of  Phitt-s- 
hurgh,  spending  some  time  in  hospital  at  Btirlington 
wliile  down  with  emiji  fever.  He  was  buried  in  West- 
jiort,  and  his  grave  shonkl  be  reuiPinljeretl  us  that  of 
one  of  tlie  soldiers  of  the  war  of  18P2.  His  son  Fred- 
erick and  his  grandson  Warren  still  reside  here. 

Not  until  ISoH  did  Charles  Hatch  die,  at  tlio  nge  of 
eighty-eight,  having  lived  in  the  town  for  ilfty-four 
years.  iJorn  a  subject  of  King  George  he  saAv  two 
wars  with  (.ireat  lUiiain,  and  liviMl  to  see  John  IJiown, 
]ierhaps,  stepping  oft'  some  boat  upon  Ins  wharf  with  a 
little  parly  of  ni'groes  bonnd  lor  the  colony  in 
North  Elba — the  tirst  warnings  of  the  Civil  War.  No 
one  had  done  more  than  he — perhaps  no  one  had  done 
so  much — to  change  the  little  clearing  at  the  head  of 
Northwest  l^iy  which  he  found  here  in  1802,  to  the 
busy  and  prosperous  village  which  he  saw  the  last 
}e;ir  of  his  life.  Were  the  old  Squire's  life  written,  ex- 
actly as  it  ran,  it  would  make  a  volume  as  varied  and 
I'omantic,  with  as  interesting  situations,  as  the  last  new 
novel  of  the  school  of  realism. 

The  .uituiun  r.niis  of  this  vear  caused   unusua.llv   de- 


\ 


-172  iiisToiiY  at'  WKSTi'oirr 

•fc-trnctlvo  lluoJs,  especially  upon  the  npi^LV  ('('nrseof  tlio 
JUHjuet,  in  Klizuliol.lito\vii.  Tiiere  the  tale  will  always 
be  told  tliat  October  1  was  tlie  wedding  iiiglit  of  Mat- 
thew Hale  and  TJlen  Hand,  but  the  day  before  the  river 
rose  and  carried  away  the  l)ridge  by  which  the  groom 
must  cross  to  the  wedding.  By  great  exertions  a  tern- 
porarj-  foot  Iriidge  was  thrown  across  the  river,  but  one 
so  frail  and  unsteady  that  the  grootn  and  one  of  the 
Aveddiug  guests  slipjjed  off  in  attempting  to  cross  and 
were  carried  down  the  swollen  stream.  Piescaed,  with 
njuch  danger  and  dit^iculty,  the  wedding  came  oft"  just 
the  sauje,  and  if  it  had  hajvpened  in  the  Scottish  high- 
lands, what  a  ballad  would  have  been  sung  by  sonu- 
ancient  bard  to  his  harp  that  night! 
'  Some  of  our  old  people  remember  that  in  Se[)tem- 
bcr  of  '56  the3-  went  to  the  County  Fair  at  E"to\su  and 
heard  Horace  Greeley  speak.  They  usually  add,  per- 
ha{)s  partly  to  show  their  o\\  n  su}voi-iority,  that  the\ 
did  not  consid.er  him  a  very  effective  orator. 

1857. 

Town  .Meeting  at  \{.  J.  Person '.s. 

David  Li.  Allen.  Supervisor. 

Charles  II.  Kddy,  Clerk. 

Jason  tJraman,  Justice. 

Jonathan  lloleomb.  Collector. 

Elijah  Wright,  llighwav  Conjip^issioner. 

Peter   Ferris  and  Jesse  Sanders.  Overseei^  t>f  the  Poor. 

Joseph  H  Smith,  Freeborn  H.  Page  and  James  .\L  Bow- 
man, ^u^.pec•tors. 

Noei  Merrill,  Assessor. 

Jonathan  Hfilcomb,  Oscar  Ta\-lor.  Joel  F.  Whitney.  Jert>- 
wiiah  I'Tmn,  Augustus  H(»lt,  Constables. 

Palhaiastei's.— Ale.\under  Stoveuson.  Rcitol  "W.   .VrnoUi, 


s 


Jiisroi:)-  OF  wEsrroirr 


47  :i 


Noel  Mr>Ti!!.  Ovfiii  }!.  Flowarri.  Xatb;ini(>l  Alien.  Wiluirr] 
Iii<.'a!l.-,  William  1^  .Mt-ifiaii).  Merlin  An-'i.T.  Lutbt-i'  Au- 
■■j'wv,  Geor^ft'  ^V.  Stuiit-vaiit,  Cyrcuus  li.  l\iyuL'.  Ciooin 
Savre.  Joel  K.  Freueli.  D.  It.  WoodrutT.  N(<iaiian  Stoi-rs, 
.MoMtravill  Hill.  I'atrirk-  iJovle.  Justin  Pnvaty.  A  Ibcrt  Cur- 
jienlei-.  Warren  INioler,  Y.  P>.  fioward.  Apollos  Goodsppod. 
[j.'C  Pfouty.  Martin  Pion-Oj  James  Fortune.  Franklin  Pen- 
nrtt,  Curtis  BenDet.  Marlin  Pierce.  James  Fortune.  VA- 
\v;ird  l'ri;e.'^;dale,  Edvs  in  'J'liou\p.-^on. 

'i'liis  vear  Halpli  A.  Lo\ eland  ivas  State  Senator  and 
John  Ij.  IMerriiiin. County  l.'reasurer.  Soon  after  this 
Mr.  Lr)velantl  was  conducting  a  large  lumber  l)usiness 
in  All)an\-,  with  {uirtners,  under  the  tirm  name  of  White, 
Loveland  A'  Co.  After  some  years  he  removed  to  Janes- 
vilje,  ^Vis.,  then  to  Cliicauo  in  ISt'ii),  and  then  io  Sagi- 
naw, ^licbigan.  wliere  he  tlied  in  IS'J'.l. 

It  was  in  tliis  year  tliat  Dr.  (iecnge  T.  Ste\-ens  bfgan 
practicing  medicine  at  \\'adhanis  Mills.  In  iSGl  ht- 
iiiarried  lianiet,  daughter  of  William  L.  Wadliams. 
Dui'ing  the  Civil  \Va)-  he  was  Surgeon  of  the  77th  regi- 
nieiit,  X.  Y.  \.  lie  afcerwai-d  removed  to  ]-5rooklyn. 
\vh(;re  he  became  well-known  as  a  specialist  in  diseases 
I'f  the  eve.  He  h;is  v/iitteu  a  number  ol  books  upoii 
•>cientilic  subjects. 

Ji>seph  Cook,  then  c)nly  a  promising  yi>ung  man  from 
Ti,  delivered  a  lecture  liere  upon  'Alcohol  antl  the  Hu- 
man JJrain." 

Of  all  our  stories  of  shipwreck,  J  know  of  but  one 
which  oi'cni-red  u]X)n  the  ocean.  After  the  discovery 
of  gold  in  Calif(nni:i  in  1S19,  there  was  ;i  great  rusli 
fiom  all  tl;.-  i-astei-n  states  to  tin-  Pa-itii-  coast,  and  our 
"f  tlie  null  who  went    fr'un    Wi-stport  to   set-k    his    f^>r- 


s 


•174  }IiSTOi:V  OF  WFSTPOirr 

tunes  in  tlie  golil  mines  \vas  Ijenjnmin  Muyliew  ShelJoi]. 
He  had  niaiiierl  Harriet  Barber,  daughter  of  Hezekiah, 
and  they  had  four  little  eliihlren,  Silas,  Ttose,  Edith  and 
Eimua.  He  went  to  California  by  water.  Arrived  at 
the  mines,  he  succeeded  in  getting  quite  a  small  fortune 
for  those  days,  about  five  thousand  dollars,  it  was  be- 
lieved, llecoiviug  a  letter  from  his  wife  in  which  she 
spoke  of  being  ill,  the  desire  to  see  his  family  again 
overcame  the  desire  for  rielies,  and  he  went  to  San 
Francisco  and  th.ere  took  the  same  steamer  upon  which 
lie  came  out,  the  Central  ulmerira,  Captain  Herndou. 
The  shij)  made  the  "greater  ]")art  of  the  return  trip  in 
safety,  touching  at  Aspinwall,  rounding  Cape  Horn,  and 
arriving  at  Havana,  which  she  left  Septeoiber  Stli,  1857. 
Three  days  afterward  a  great  gale  came  up,  and  the 
ship  sprung  a  leak.  The  pumps  were  kept  going,  the 
passengers  takiucf  their  turn  with  the  crew,  but  the  wa- 
ter rose  so  rapidly  that  it  put  out  the  tires  under  the 
boilers,  and  the  ship  lay  at  the  mercy  of  the  waves.  At 
two  o'clock  on  Saturday  afternoon,  a  l:>rig  was  sighted, 
the  Marine,  an.l  signaled  for  help.  Five  boat-loads  of 
passengers  were  taken  from  the  steamer  to  the  brig,  the 
women  and  children  being  taken  first.  Then  the  wave.s 
rolled  so  high,  and  the  tuo  vessels  had  drifted  so  far 
apart  that  the  steamer  was  abandoned  to  her  fate,  and 
was  thought  to  have  gone  down  at  about  eigiit  o'clock 
that  evening.  Captain  Heiudon  went  down  with  his 
sliip.  In  the  mails  there  w;is  over  a  million  dollars  in 
specie,  bes\«les  large  quantities  of  gold  carried  by  indi- 


s 


nisToi^y  OF  WESTJ'oirr  -it:, 

vidual  ])cissoiigX'rs.      Of    tlio   ]0:>   luf-ii  who   went   down 
\\'\i\\.  tljo  ship,  Benjiuniu  Slioklou  uus  one. 

Another  life  bJicriGeed  to  the  se:irch  for  California 
^^>kl  w;is  that  of  Aliiahani  Wadhaius.  He  lived  to  s^ee 
his  home  a^^ain,  but  contracted  ship-fe\-er  on  tlie  voyage, 
and  died  ininiediately  upon  his  i'(  turn.  Others  who 
went,  and  brought  l)ack  more  oi'  less  of  a  burden  of 
•svealth  were  Rouben  In^'alls,  Oii  iu  Hov,;ivd,  Jonathan 
r>raisted,  and  the  sons  of  Elijah  Newell.  T!ie  latter  did 
not  return  to  Weslport,  but  made  their  homes  in  the 
.south. 

Town  Meeting  hokl  at  tlio  Inn  of  Ik  J.  Persons. 

David  L.  Allen,  Supervisor. 

Cbat-lps  H.  Eddy.  Clerk. 

.Tohn  If.  Lon-.  j  ustiee. 

David  R.  Woodruff.  Assessor. 

Daniel  M.  Hon-ard,  .fligbwav  Conjmissioner. 

I'fier  Ferris  and  Levi  H.  Cros.s.  Poor  Masters. 

Joseph  P:.  Smith.  Ruel  W.  Arnold  and  Henry  k  Estey, 
Inspectors  of  Election. 

Janies  M.  Bowreau,  Colieclor. 

Henry  H.  Hok-omb.  Cyreuus  \l  Payne.  Willard  In;ral]s. 
.Tunatljan  J-Iok-omb,  Dan  S.  Cuttiuji-.  Coi.stables. 

Voted  to  allow  A.  M.  Olds  $12.1)0  f.n-  an  error  in  school 
money. 

Patbnia?>tPrs. --Granville  Stone.  K.  W.  Arnold.  Ai-ehi- 
!.)aid  Patterson,  Harvey  Piert-e.  Josiah  Pierce,  John  Gree- 
h.'V.  William  P.  Merriain.  Samuel  .\nder.son.  M.  P.  Whul- 
k»"n.  Geor^'-e  W.  Sturtevant.  E.lijab  Wri.u'ht.  Orrin  F.  Hardy, 
Arza  Phinney,  D.  H.  Woodimff.  William  Laurence,  Harvey 
Smith.  A.  M.  Olds,  L'--ooard  Averv.  Piatt.  Sheldon.  Abram 
Gi'ecley.  -Alvin  Burt.  Solomon  Stockwell.  fjumau  Hubbard, 
.\bram  Sherman,  Franklin  Hosley,  Franklin  Bennett,  J  al- 
ius Vaurrhau.  Georj^e  \'au«,dian,  .Tames  Fortune. 

This  year  there  was  plenty  of  business  k^r  the  ••}'>net' 
\'''.'svtr-7. "     'ii-'c  nanie   uf   tiii-.   i>ld    oHk-;     had    bL'tju    iL-n-; 


\ 


47G  iiisnmy  of  WL'STJ'Onr 

dropi)eJ,  but  its  dnfu's  vverf  perforniod  by  the  Hifzhwav 
Commissioners.  Moses  Coll  and  Elijah  Wric^'hl  were 
oblii'ed  t<)  settle  a  dispute  about  a  line  fence  between  land 
of  James  W.  Coil's  and  Jaa.es  Pects',  and  then  another,  in 
the  same  nei^'hborhood,  about  a  line  fence  between  Archi- 
bald Pattison  and  Keuel  Arnold. 

It  is  interesting  to  compare  tlie  census  of  1858  with 
that  taken  thirty  years  before.  Then  about  onc-fifth 
the  land  was  reported  as  improveil,  now  it  is  more  than 
half  under  cultivation.  Ileal  estaio  has  risen  in  value 
from  $86,423  to  §375,537,  and  personal  property  from 
$1,'/J0  to  $1G,250.  In  Joseph  Cook's  history-  of  Ticon- 
deroga,  he  remarks  upon  the  fact  that  the  real  estate 
of  Westport  increased  in  value  more  than  four  times  in 
30  years.  Population  has  increased  from  1322  to  20-11. 
Then  424  children  were  taught  in  the  schools  during 
the  year,  now  there  are  814.  In  one  thing  there  is  an 
immense  rt^duction.  From  9985  yards  of  cloth  of  do- 
mestic manufactiu-e  iu  1829,  the  record  falls  to  285  m 
1858. 

This  year  there  were  390  dwellings  iu  towu,  40S  fain- 
ilie.s,  207  free-holders  and  32  school  districts.  49S 
horses,  against  237  thirty  years  before,  and  5,231  sheep 
against  3,801.  Now  there  were  also  1022  working  oxeii 
and  calves,  023  cows,  and  506  swine.  The  towu  pro- 
<lueed  31,500  bushels  of  gr.iin,  3000  tons  of  hay,  12,999 
barrels  of  potatoes,  6,815  barrels  of  apples,  45,713 
pouuds  of  butter,  and  8,377  pounds  of  cheese. 

The  New  York  Ga/etteer  of  1860,  usiug  the  statistics 
of  this  year,  reports  as  oar  chief  characteristics,  "iron, 
leather  and    lumber   largely    manufactured.      Westport 


s 


HISTORY  OF  wi'.srroirr  477 

ooutaius  tlio  Essex  Couuty   Arademy   aud   4')()   iulial>i- 
iauts.      U'adhams  Mills  has  twenty-five  houses." 

1850-  :-■  '    ■    ■■'■  ■ 

Town  Meeting  held  at  H.  J.  Person's. 

David  L.  Aileii,  Supervisor.  /f       ,-; 

fiiram  H.  Duwney,  Clerk. 

David  S.  McLeod,  Justice. 

Hurry  N.  Cole,  Assessor. 

Israel  P;Ltter.son,  Highway  Cwnmissiouer. 

Jauies  A.  Alieu,  Collector. 

Pbiletus  D.  Merriam  and  Peter  Ferris.  Poor  Masters. 

Hinkley  Coll.  Orlando  Sayre  and  Barton  ]>.  Pilchards, 
luspeetDrs  of  Elections. 

Jiimes  A.  Allen,  John  E.  Staey.  CyrenusP.  Payne,  Jona- 
tban  Polcumb,  Hinklev  Coll.  Constables. 

\'oted  thiit  the  money  in  the  hands  of  the  S^ipervi.sor 
should  be  used  to  purchase  the  Revised  Statutes. 

Pathtuasters. — District  No.  1  for  the  first  time  since 
lS-19.  Orriu  ih:»\vard,  Alexander  Stevenson,  R.  W.  Arnold. 
George  Patterson.  Harvey  Pierce.  Elijah  Newell.  William 
l^iehards,  W.  P.  Merruuii,  Merlin  Augier,  Cyrus  B.  Royce, 
<;.  \V.  Sturtevuut,  Elijah  Wright.  O.  F.  Hardy,  Sylvester 
^'oiing,  F.  Johnson,  A.  F.  Sherman,  Harvey  Smith.  Pat- 
rick Boyle.  Harriman  Daniels,  f',.  J.  Smith.  Vv'arreu  Pooler. 
John  Ormstoa.  John  McCouley.  Julius  Ferris.  Henry  B. 
Hoyce,  John  E.  Smith,  l-'ranklin  Bennett,  William  Pierce. 
Saiuuel  I'it-rce.  James  Fortune. 

In  the  hiirhway  districts  we  find  mentioned  ■"along  the 
])lank  ruad  to  the  wharf  of  Hatch  and  Allen,  iheuce  np  the 
hill  to  the  corner  of  F.  H.  Page's  store.  " 

This  year  came  in  a  quaint  and  uimsual  iuclustry, 
that  of  making  clay  pipes  hy  hand.  At-tlie  month  of 
the  Fiaymoud  brook,  ou  Be.ssboro,  near  the  island  of 
Father  J(^gues,  stands  an  old  house,  on  the  site,  it  is 
lielieved,  of  one  of  the  dwellings  of  the  ancient  settle- 
ment of  Raymond's  Mills.  Here,  in  one  eml  of  the 
house,  "VN'us  the  shoj\  communicating  at  tht'   bad:    with 


V 


47S  iiisToiiy  OF  WFsrroirr 

a  liriek  kiln,  built  for  bniiiiiii:;  the  pipes  to  suowy  wLito- 
ness  after  thej  were  moulded.  The  soft  black  vlay, 
hrought  from  Nev,'  Jersey,  was  ground  to  tlie  pro[)er 
iiueuess  in  a  vat  outside,  where  a  patient  horse  ploddeil 
round  and  round  at  the  end  of  a  long  sweep.  An  Eng- 
lishman named  James  A.  Smith,  (always  dislinguisheci 
amouj:;  us  by  the  title  of  "Pipemaker  Smith,")  with  his 
sons  Gabriel  aisd  Peter,  made  the  pipes,  using  many  a 
mould  of  curious  shape,  brought  f